More Storms for Western Massachusetts

Photo by Mark M. Murray, The Republican

Though many homeowners and businesses in Western Massachusetts are still rebuilding from the June 1st tornadoes, on Tuesday, July 26th, many of the same areas were struck by severe thunderstorms with high winds that downed power lines, fell trees, and left thousands of customers without electricity. An 85-year-old man was killed in Hinsdale, MA when his motorcycle collided with a fallen tree that was entangled with live electrical wires.

Our neighborhood took a much harsher beating this time around. I saw the storm coming, so I rushed to picked up the girls from the library, where they were attending an art workshop provided as part of their summer reading program. By the time I left the library parking lot, the rain had begun to fall. Hail soon followed, and driving became difficult.

Luckily we are close by, so we made it home safely. No sooner had I secured the garage door, then we lost electricity. The hand-held radio came out, and I began searching the sky for funnels in case the girls and I had to head to the basement. By the time the storm had passed, our yard looked like a freak snow storm had hit because there were numerous piles of hail in the grass and flower beds. We lost a few small trees in the backyard and I spent some time picking up the debris in the front. Some of our neighbors lost trees that barely missed their homes or ended up blocking their driveways. Thankfully no one was hurt.

We spent the rest of yesterday and most of today without power. The hubby called from our house around 10:30 PM to say the electricity is back on. Thanks to the people at National Grid for working so hard these past two days to restore power to areas impacted by the storm. Thanks to all our public works people and police and fire for doing a great job of making sure life can get back to normal as soon as possible.

I ask you to keep the many families impacted by these storms in your prayers. Between the winter of record-breaking snow and these horrible recent storms, it makes you wonder who ticked off Mother Nature.