(NECN: Scot Yount: Monson, Mass.) - The steeple is gone from the First Church of Munson for the third time since 1873, but its pastor said that while the damage is extensive, no one was hurt.
The pastor, Bob Marrone, said the church will rebuild the steeple as it has in the 1890s and following the Great Hurricane of 1938, and that the church would be holding a service later today.
The town hall lost its roof, but across the street from the church, the members of the Parker family took shelter in the basement of their house, which was surrounded by fallen trees but escaped damage.
"We took the dogs, and you could hear the wind, and after we came up we looked out and said, 'Oh, my God," said Mrs. Marcus Parker.
Earlier in the day the couple looked in awe at a magazine cover showing the destruction of the May 22 tornado in Joplin, Mo., never dreaming that something similar would happen in their part of the country.
