First responders look back on 2011 tornado 11 years later

WORCESTER COUNTY, Mass. – June 1 marks 11 years since a strong twister tore by Central and Western Massachusetts.

The EF-3 twister killed three individuals and injured many extra and prompted over $100 million price of harm.

Sturbridge was amongst one of many hardest hit cities, and police Chief Earl Dessert remembers June 1, 2011 properly. 

“Effectively, I used to be a reasonably newly promoted sergeant and I bear in mind my chief calling me on the time saying ‘Hey, there’s a twister in Springfield. Would you like me to move again?” Chief Dessert stated. “I stated ‘Twister, chief? Come on, I’ve obtained this underneath management.’ He stated ‘Okay, I believe I’ll take a journey again in any case.’ And I used to be very grateful he did take a journey again.”

It proved to be an all palms on deck mission when the twister hit. Photographs of the aftermath present downed timber, indicators and energy traces all throughout city. Barbara Boiteau, a dispatcher on the time, went into work instantly when she noticed the twister warning. 

“You possibly can all the time be skilled for that, however in the case of the purpose, you simply go along with it, go along with the motion and the circulate of the calls,” Boiteau stated.

Previous to the warning, there was skepticism the twister would show to be a lot of something. 

“On the time, lots of people didn’t consider it {that a} twister was truly coming by the city,” stated Lt. Joseph Lombardi. “I believe it was in Springfield on the time, and that’s once we thought ‘Wow, that is actually coming our approach.’”

For the Sturbridge Police Division, the aftermath prolonged past cleanup. Scammers took benefit of the state of affairs.

“Being within the occupation so long as I’ve been, I wasn’t shocked there was individuals on the market making an attempt to earn a living off this tragedy, as a result of I’ve seen it all through my profession with completely different tragedies,” Chief Dessert stated. “It was nonetheless alarming to me that individuals could be out making an attempt to benefit from older individuals, making an attempt to take cash from them, providing providers, asking for pay up entrance, not doing the providers, and issues like that.”

Nonetheless, the sharpest reminiscences are ones of unity, each amongst residents of the city and close by neighbors. 

“We noticed an outpouring of help from our neighboring group of Southbridge, the proprietor of eating places bringing in meals to the general public security advanced, ensuring firefighters and cops and all first responders had been taken care of when it got here to meals and water,” Chief Dessert stated. “Whereas they had been doing this for us, on the identical time, we had been doing it for the group.”