Class President's House Destroyed in Monson, Mass.

(NECN: Eileen Curran) - Members of the Monson High School class of 2011 will have to wait a little longer to get their diplomas. The town, which suffered incredible damage during Wednesdays tornadoes decided to postpone graduation from Friday, June 3rd to Wednesday June 8th, one week after the devastating hit.  Senior class president Alex Joseph was supposed to have 100 people at his house Saturday to celebrate.

"The party's going on right now I guess," he said.

 But instead of guests bearing gifts, it''s friends and neighbors bearing chainsaws. The Joseph's home was destroyed by the tornado.

"My bedroom is the one that's missing right now," said Alex pointing at the huge hole in the house.

 Alex was home with his dad and younger brother when they saw the tornado coming. Their dad got them down into the basement. They could hear the destruction above them.

"Thirty seconds, it was over," said Tom Joseph, Alex's dad.

"The glass was busting out, you could feel the whole foundation rock," said Alex.

When they emerged, the house was a total loss.

The twister picked up a huge shed from the backyard and launched it through the kitchen.

"(It) deposited lawnmowers, all the contents of the shed (into the kitchen)," said Tom Joseph.

 With so much destruction, and so many families now homeless, school officials decided to postponed graduation. As class president, Alex will make a speech. He wrote it before the tornado hit, but is planning on making some changes.

"It's going to be tweaked," he said. "I really want to say something about the community and how we've really come together."

 Something like this can really force a person to grow up quickly. Alex and his friends believe they have.

"We've become men over the last couple days," said Alex. "We've grown up."

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