Obama signs disaster aid for tornado-hit Massachusetts (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed a disaster declaration for the Massachusetts counties hit by the June 1 tornadoes that killed three people and caused damage in the tens of millions of dollars.

The move frees up federal funding to residents and business owners in Hampden and Worcester counties and will help supplement state and local recovery and rebuilding efforts, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said.

Assistance includes grants for temporary housing and home repairs, low-cost loans to cover uninsured property losses and unemployment payments for workers who temporarily lost jobs because of the disaster and do not qualify for state benefits, such as self-employed workers, it said.

Funds in the form of low-interest loans also are available to help cover losses from damage to homes, businesses, farms and ranches, cooperatives and other organizations, FEMA said.

The tally of damages from the tornadoes that ripped through western and central Massachusetts nearly two weeks ago was at least $90 million, the state Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation has said.

It was the most costly single natural disaster in state history, the office said.

FEMA, which is part of the federal Department of Homeland Security, named James Russo as top coordinator for federal recovery operations in the area devastated by the storms.

People in Hampden and Worcester counties can apply by registering online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov or calling 1-800-621-FEMA (3362).

(Reporting by Zach Howard ; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Greg McCune)

View the original article here

Massachusetts Latest Victim of Terrible Tornado Season (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Massachusetts is known for its blizzards, Democrats and being the cradle of the Revolution. But it most certainly is not known for its deadly tornadoes. But then, 2011 has not been an average year for twisters either.

In one of the deadliest years for tornadoes on record in the United States, Yahoo! News reports an outbreak of storms caused at least three deaths in Massachusetts and injured 200 people. Even though residents had fair warning of the twisters, there were still some caught in the damage path as people may not have been used to tornadoes in the area.

Springfield, Mass., the hardest hit by the storms, doesn't even have a storm siren system. On the city's website, tornadoes aren't even mentioned in the A-Z to index. That's how much the northeast pays attention to tornado weather.

Massachusetts doesn't get many tornadoes per year. The current average is around two annually. From 1953-2004, the average was closer to three twisters a year. This storm spawned at least two confirmed tornadoes.

With the death toll of the Massachusetts twisters, 2011 is now the deadliest year for tornadoes on record since the National Weather Service began keeping track of tornado deaths. As many as 522 people have been killed, reports the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, eclipsing the number in 1953 when 519 died.

June of 1953 was also the last time a huge tornado ripped through Massachusetts. Almost 100 people died as the storm was part of an outbreak that had devastated Flint, Mich., a day earlier. The similarities between 1953 and 2011 are becoming eerily familiar.

Tornado season isn't even finished yet, even as hurricane season begins. If another 30 people die in tornadoes this year, it will be the second deadliest year in America on record save for 1925. Any tornado deaths from before 1950 are unofficial, as they are just estimates of the number of people who perished.

The reason tornadoes have moved farther north in June is where the jet stream resides. Colder air retreats farther to the north, closer to the Arctic, which gives fewer chances for southerly warm and moist air to collide with cooler air up north.

During April and May, the jet stream dips farther south, causing tornadoes in southern parts of the United States. June and even July should be considered tornado season for the upper Midwest and Northeast. Tornadoes tore down hundreds of trees in the Bronx during a freakish EF1 tornado in July of 2010.

The Los Angeles Times headline said it best, proclaiming, "In tornado-struck Massachusetts, it feels like Missouri." With few notable exceptions, such as a lack of tornado sirens, Massachusetts could very well be Missouri all over again. Many citizens were trapped in their cars. Fortunately, the tornado wasn't strong enough to flip over cars as the one in Joplin, Mo., did.

The fear was still the same. Watching a tornado coming at you as you're helpless to do anything would terrify anyone. This year can't be over with fast enough.

View the original article here

Massachusetts residents face aftermath of tornadoes (Reuters)

BOSTON (Reuters) – Residents of tornado-ravaged towns in western and central Massachusetts faced the arduous tasks of cleaning up and assessing the damage on Friday from the twisters that ripped through the region this week.

Officials have confirmed three deaths from Wednesday's storms and said a fourth death, an elderly man who died of apparent cardiac arrest, may not have been tornado-related.

The late-afternoon tornadoes, moving west to east, tore through some 19 communities, including Springfield, about 90 miles west of Boston, bringing high winds, rain, large hail stones, thunder and lightning.

In Brimfield, Massachusetts, where officials confirmed one death, the path of the twisters destroyed 25 years of hard work and memories in less than a minute, one business owner said.

"It's all gone. Everything's gone. There's nothing left," said Dave Bell, owner of a towing and car repair and restoration business decimated in the storm.

Bell said paperwork from his shop was found more than 50 miles away in Norwood, Massachusetts.

Two of his employees survived the storm underneath a stairwell in one of the buildings, and cars, including his own restored classic automobile, were flipped and scattered around the property, he said.

Bell said he was unsure if he will try to rebuild his business.

About 200 people were injured during the severe weather system, and roughly 14,000 customers in the area remained without power on Friday, emergency management officials said.

The National Weather Service said preliminary indications show that two or three tornadoes touched down in the region on Wednesday.

One tornado identified by survey teams that moved eastward from Westfield, Massachusetts will carry a preliminary classification in the hardest-hit areas as EF-3 or higher on the damage scale, the Weather Service said.

The EF-3 rating means average wind gusts of 136 to 165 miles per hour. The scale extends through EF-5, with wind gusts of more than 200 mph.

Survey teams were still investigating the scope and force of the storms, it said.

The U.S. has been battered by tornadoes this year. A series of deadly twisters hit the Southeast U.S. in April, and a powerful tornado devastated Joplin, Missouri in May. At least four of the tornadoes have been classified as EF-5. More than 500 people have died nationwide so far this year.

(Reporting Lauren Keiper, additional reporting by Zach Howard in Conway, Massachusetts; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Greg McCune)

View the original article here