WSET.com - ABC13Tornado Hits Close to Home by Lyndsay Tapases

All I can say is WOW. The first I heard of a possible tornado striking my hometown of Westfield, MA was yesterday afternoon when Len came over to the Weather Center to tell me he had just seen video of a tornado in the area. I immediately checked the Storm Prediction Center's storm reports and there was the line written: Possible tornado touchdown in Shaker Road area, Westfield, MA. Shaker Road?! That is less than half a mile from my parent's house!

I called my family right away to make sure everyone was ok, and luckily I was able to get through. Calls kept going in and out as the cell service was very poor. My mom and sister both said they could see bits of debris flying in the sky behind our house. Although it will take a few days for the exact path of the tornado to be determined, there was reported structural damage to my old elementary school, which is about 1/3 of a mile from my parent's house. Bottom line: my family was very lucky.

When I initially talked to my family on the phone, the damage did not sound too extensive, so I assumed that the tornado was probably pretty weak. But after seeing all of the photos and video that have come in, it looks like Springfield, MA took a much harder hit than Westfield did. After seeing the aftermath and all of the structural damage, it is amazing to me how low the fatality number is. People from that area are just not ready for this kind of severe weather, as it is SO rare for us.

The strongest tornado ever on record for Hampden county (where both Westfield and Springfield are) is an F2 in 1996. Prior to yesterday, there were no known tornado-related fatalities in the county. Whether or not this tornado ranks above an EF2 (from what I've seen I would guess it will be classified as a 2 or a 3) it will still end up a historic storm for the area due to the fatalities alone.

It is still surreal to me to see my hometown gaining national attention because of a tornado. I never thought I would see this day. I am just so grateful that the amount of deaths and injuries is relatively low compared to some of the other cities across the country that have suffered so much heartache over this unrelenting severe weather season. I know that sometimes it is easy to have an "it-can't-happen-here" mentality with regards to these kinds of storms, but if there's one thing I hope people can take away from this experience it's that it CAN happen. That is why it is imperative to take every single Tornado Warning seriously, no matter what the circumstances are. Again, I am grateful for the safety of my friends and family and I have no doubt that the effected communities will be able to overcome this!