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Tornado in Worcester: Who Knew?

by: Bob Neer

Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 12:43:39 PM EDT

The Mass. Foundation for the Humanities reminds us that on this day in 1953:

Worcester County was devastated by the strongest tornado ever to hit New England. With winds close to 300 mph, the twister traveled 46 miles across the county, reaching its peak intensity in Worcester. Cinderblock and brick buildings were picked up and smashed to rubble. Ponds were sucked dry. A 12-ton bus flew through the air. The storm left 94 dead, 1,288 injured, 15,000 homeless and over $53,000,000 in property damage. When survivors emerged from the wreckage, they viewed destruction so complete that many thought it was either a nuclear explosion or the apocalypse. Fifty years later one survivor recalled, "We thought the world was coming to an end. And when we saw what had happened, we were sure it had."

"Cinderblock and brick buildings were picked up and smashed to rubble." In Worcester?! Who knew? We'd better get busy building a BMG storm cellar, I guess.

Bob Neer :: Tornado in Worcester: Who Knew?

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Tornado in Worcester: Who Knew? | 24 comments

Some people knew (6.00 / 2)

They didn't pick the baseball team's name out of the ether, you know. The team mascot is Twister.

For those who are not clueless metro-Boston-ers, the storm hit the neighborhood near what is now Quinsigamond State, and was then the campus of Assumption College. A priest and two nuns from the faculty were among those killed by the storm.

In other news for metro-Boston people, there are mountains in Massachusetts! And a museum about basketball. And tobacco farms!

by: CentralMassDad @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 12:05:32 PM CDT

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And (6.00 / 1)

In other news for metro-Boston people, there are mountains in Massachusetts! And a museum about basketball. And tobacco farms!

And Republicans

by: gary @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 12:09:33 PM CDT

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What?!?! (0.00 / 0)

That's silly talk.

by: Wookie @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 12:11:21 PM CDT

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rarer than fisher cats, though (6.00 / 1)

except maybe in Holden

by: CentralMassDad @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 12:11:38 PM CDT

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Hey (0.00 / 0)

I once saw a fisher-cat in Holder. Seriously. Can't remember seeing a Republican there however.

by: gary @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 12:14:01 PM CDT

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The tornado contued south east from Worcester, While travellying from Sharon into Easton it picked up railroad cars and killed a man in machine shop or rte 138 in S. Easton. (0.00 / 0)

Surprising that folks were unaware of this.

by: MCRD @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 14:42:56 PM CDT

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I didn't know that (0.00 / 0)

The Worcester tornado is a well-known local disaster, but I had no idea it had also struck suburbs south of Boston.

by: Ron Newman @ Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 11:45:59 AM CDT

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It hit Westborough (0.00 / 0)

My home town of Westborough was very badly damaged as well. It was devastating to many. Before my time though.

Kate Donaghue, volunteer.

by: Kate @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 12:21:34 PM CDT

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I actually saw it... (0.00 / 0)

....at the time, my family was living on the third floor of a three decker on Grafton Hill (a fairly high spot in the city). My father took me out onto the screened in porch and held me while it went by. Later, he told me that he 'didn't want me to be afraid of weather', and as a tiny child, I was oblivious as to the danger of what we were doing. Of course, as a nice Swedish boy with no clue as to what a tornado WAS, my DAD was oblivious as well....on the other hand, I never HAVE been afraid of weather.

And since my birthday is June 10, I was perfectly capapble of thinking the big scary display was all for MEEEE!!!

Yr. Obedient Servant, Peter Porcupine, Republican

by: Peter Porcupine @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 12:33:54 PM CDT

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Happy Birthday Peter n/t (0.00 / 0)

Kate Donaghue, volunteer.

by: Kate @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 13:04:41 PM CDT

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Alternatively, Happy Anniversary (6.00 / 1)

Anniversary of your 35th birthday, which is how I like to think of it.

by: CentralMassDad @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 13:23:22 PM CDT

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Thank God No Crusaders Were Injured (6.00 / 1)

Ernie Boch, III is not related to Ernie Boch, Jr. however he does hope to be in his will.

Justice for Tookie

by: EB3 @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 13:36:06 PM CDT

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hahahahahaha (6.00 / 1)

Fitton Field has more aluminum than a 747, and would make a marvelous sight indeed as it takes flight.

by: CentralMassDad @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 14:18:00 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

happy birthday. (0.00 / 0)

I worked at Worcester City yrs ago. Everyone knew about the tornado. It was always mentioned and served as the background for any discussion of emergency readiness.

Happy birthday.

by: cadmium @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 15:39:47 PM CDT

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It is a rather famous one too (0.00 / 0)

Getting old (not quite 1953) so I can't exactly remember why. Highest wind speed? Biggest? Longest? Something like that.

Grew up in Tornado Alley so it must have been quite a breeze for it to impress us. Scary little buggers, without the witches.

Democrats protest war. Republicans protest healthcare.

by: MedfieldBlueBob @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 12:26:18 PM CDT

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BMG: Big Massachusetts Gathering (0.00 / 0)

Happy to do whatever we can here to help build trans-state understanding and unity ;-)

I'm pretty surprised by that "we have Republicans," comment by Gary, I must say, but I'll take his word for it. Just means we have more work to do, I guess.

Happy Birthday Peter!

BMG: Reality-based commentary.

by: Bob Neer @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 13:25:49 PM CDT

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A Whole Lot of People Know/Knew Bob (6.00 / 1)

ya cahpitbaygah

Ernie Boch, III is not related to Ernie Boch, Jr. however he does hope to be in his will.

Justice for Tookie

by: EB3 @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 13:35:07 PM CDT

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Now, now EB ... (0.00 / 0)

Didn't you say you moved here from California? ;-)

BMG: Reality-based commentary.

by: Bob Neer @ Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 11:02:47 AM CDT

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For a more in depth look at the tornado (0.00 / 0)

check out:
http://www.islandnet.com/~see/...

by: JoeS @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 14:41:54 PM CDT

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The Worcester tornado was (5.00 / 1)

regularly cited in emergency and disaster planning books(I may have an old Red Cross manual around).

The Worcester tornado was brutal

by: cadmium @ Mon Jun 09, 2008 at 15:34:33 PM CDT

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To echo Ernie, a lot of us know. (0.00 / 0)

I'm from Worcester and grew up in the Burncoat/Greendale area that was badly damaged. Many of my classmates in the years following had lost family members, including parents, as well as their homes in the tornado. A woman I worked with for years (who was also active in the Patrick/Murray campaign) lost her mother. One of my closest friends to this day gets panic attacks when the sky has a certain color and there's a certain feeling in the air. The memory of that horrific event haunts many who still live here.

by: lightiris @ Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 08:06:19 AM CDT

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Many of us knew (0.00 / 0)

Well-known piece of local history, Bob. The Worcester area is the flattest part of the state, which means tornadoes are occasionally able to take root. An occasional topic of conversation when I was growing up.

by: dkennedy @ Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 08:25:11 AM CDT

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Dan also stands ready to educate us (0.00 / 0)

on how to get one of the coveted permits to use the Cape Cod Tunnel.

The local topography to which Dan refers renders it difficult to bike to work here: one needs the legs of Lance Armstrong in order to do it.

by: CentralMassDad @ Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 12:10:33 PM CDT

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Wikipedia says more (6.00 / 1)

From Wikipedia:

The massive Worcester tornado was on the ground for nearly an hour and a half. In that period it traveled 46 miles, reached 1 mile in width and injured 1,300 people. ... Damage was phenomenal in Worcester (at that time the second largest city in New England) and in some areas equaled the worst damage seen in the history of U.S. tornadoes. ... Airborne debris was strewn eastward, reaching the Blue Hill Meteorological Observatory 35 mi (56 km) away, and even out over Massachusetts Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The farthest documented distance of tornado debris was an item that blew from Holden to Eastham (on Cape Cod), a distance of 110 miles. This is one of the greatest such instances in a U.S. tornado.
The Worcester Tornado was a milestone in many regards, not only because of its enormous size and unusual geographic location. It was also the nation's costliest tornado in raw dollars at the time, and its 1,300 injuries still stand as the 4th worst in U.S. history. However, its greatest legacy to the nation at large was that it was the catalyst for the Storm Prediction Center's reorganization on June 17, 1953, and subsequent implementation of a nationwide radar system. In terms of fatalities, it is the last tornado (as of April 2007) to kill more than 90 people, making it the 19th worst on record.

Lots more details on this F4 tornado (which some think was actually an F5) at the above link.

--
If you want to live like a Republican, you better vote like a Democrat. —Harry Truman

by: dcsohl @ Tue Jun 10, 2008 at 11:25:20 AM CDT

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Tornado in Worcester: Who Knew? | 24 comments