Tornado hits Western Mass

by Coach Weber – Beautiful sunny Wednesday turned into more of a head wind than anyone could imagine with at least 4 tornados touching down in Western Mass., damaging the communities of W. Springfield, Springfield, Westfield, East Longmeadow, Longmeadow, Monson, Wilbraham, Hampden, Palmer Sturbridge, Chicopee, Belchertown, Ware and many more. The first tornado hit down around 4:20 pm in West Springfield about less than a half a mile from my place and moved through the town of West Springfield over the Connecticut River to Springfield on a war path all the way to Monson area before stopping. Coach Teal and I caught first-hand the disaster as we were leaving the Riverdale Shopping Plaza where the tornado originated. The second tornado touched down around 6:10 pm right in downtown Westfield around Shaker Road. I have yet to leave my apartment, but the news photos and photos from friends are showing buildings destroyed trees down everywhere and power outages. Best wishes those affected.