See: http://briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/
It was five years ago today—June 1, 2011—when extremely unusual weather conditions produced a tornado that swept through Monson, Massachusetts and surrounding towns.
I’d just returned from Dublin a few days earlier.
I made a few photographs of the storm from my window on Moulton Hill Road. I only glimpsed the funnel for a few moments and the passage of the storm was remarkably quick.
Fortunately for us the funnel missed Moulton Hill by about 2 miles. Many others were not so lucky.
On June 3, 2011, I ventured into the village and made photographed evidence of the most extreme damage.
Dozens of buildings in town were destroyed and many thousands of trees were ruined. The event made national and international news.
These photographs are intended as a document of the event and its aftermath as I witnessed it and do not represent an interpretation of the storm nor complete record of its destruction.
Brian Solomon’s Tracking the Light Posts Daily
Thanks for sharing this. As I had grown up in the Springfield area and still have many relatives and friends there this storm was somewhat personal to me. Thankfully no one in my family suffered damage or injury.
I specifically remember watching a northbound train on the CV from my grandfather’s car while we were heading south on Main St. c. 1968 not too far south of the Main St. bridge over the railroad – right at the location that the twister would make its way through town decades later.
Monson, Massachusetts, is the town that was damaged by the June 1, 2011 Tornado; Monson, Maine (abbreviated ‘ME’)is the town affiliated with the Monson Railroad (an historic two-foot gauge line). Incidentally, Monson, Maine (which is pronounced differently) was originally settled by people from Monson, Massachusetts. I hope that helps.
Wow! That was five years ago already.. I bet for the people who were witness to this event directly still feel and think it was yesterday.. being without homes, power, etc.. Five years and yes, you can still see where the storm hit.. houses still in disrepair.. It’s not the pretty little town it once was.. scarred by the tornado..
Is this the Monson of the sometime Monson RR or a different one?
Among the changes stemming from the June 1 storm: there are fewer buildings than before; you can still see many of the damaged trees where the storm swept through. There’s a new ugly town office building on the site of Main Street School.The steeple on the First Church was eventually restored. The storm damage is still very much evident in places to the east of the village, and in Brimfield along Routes 19 and 20. See MassLive for detailed stories: http://topics.masslive.com/tag/2011-tornado/
Brian, what does Monson look like now, five years later?