BOSTON (AP) — Communities across New England were bouncing back Saturday, the day after a wave of tornadoes swept the region.
Four tornadoes have been confirmed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and the National Weather Service was investigating a possible fifth in eastern Connecticut.
On Friday, strong winds toppled trees, damaged homes, flooded roads, and in one instance, Car lifted off the highway in Rhode Island.
No injuries were reported.
In Rhode Island, a tornado caused damage in Johnston, Sitwit, and North Providence. The most severe damage occurred in the city of Situat, where hundreds of large trees were uprooted or snapped at the bases. In Johnston, storms wiped out about 100 trees at Highland Park Memorial Cemetery.
The hurricane was the strongest to strike Rhode Island since an F-2 tornado hit Cranston and Providence on August 7, 1986, according to the Weather Service.
A tornado briefly touched down in Stoughton, Massachusetts, downing trees, one of which landed on a shed.
Another tornado uprooted trees and ripped shingles from the roof of a home in Weymouth, Massachusetts. The weather service said a witness who took shelter in a basement spotted debris swirling through the window.
A fourth tornado has been confirmed in the North Attleboro and Mansfield, Massachusetts area.
Rhode Islanders in the hurricane’s path continued to clean up debris Saturday, including clearing fallen trees off roads, Armand Randolph of the Rhode Island Emergency Management Agency said.
“It’s about just moving the trees and pushing them to the side,” he said.
In Massachusetts, emergency officials have not yet received calls for help from communities in the path of the hurricanes according to Christian Cooney of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.
“We have not received any requests for assistance from the towns,” he said.
New England usually gets a few tornadoes a year. Most – but not all – are relatively weak.
In 2011, A.J A powerful tornado killed three people It caused massive damage in western Massachusetts. And in 1953, a powerful tornado killed 94 people and injured nearly 1,300 in central Massachusetts, including Worcester. The operation took about an hour and a half and damaged or destroyed 4,000 buildings.
