National Weather Service: Easthampton Storm was Microburst, Not Tornado

The storm knocked down tree limbs and utility lines

The National Weather Service says the storm that caused serious damage to the town of Easthampton, Massachusetts, on Wednesday appears to have been a microburst and not a tornado.

Easthampton Mayor Karen Cadieux had initially said a tornado might have hit the town, but later said it might just be a microburst. The National Weather Service is sending a team to survey the damage, but said based on the way the trees fell, it appears to have been a microburst.

"You couldn't walk anywhere because it was just complete trees blocking the entire road, you couldn't even move," said Mayor Cadieux.

Easthampton Police said the storm hit town around 4:54 a.m. Several residents were injured, but did not require hospitalization. Two people were trapped in a car, but they were able to be rescued. Most of the damage was on Route 141 and Hendrick Street.

Police said trees and power lines were knocked down, and one tree reportedly fell on a house, narrowly missing the residents inside. 

"Had this happened in commuter time, even 6 a.m., 6:30, 7:30 it would have been devastating, so it's no short of a miracle," Mayor Cadieux added.

The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency is on scene, and police said it will likely take days to clean up.

Mayor Cadieux says as crews have begun working their way up nearby Mount Tom, they have determined the damage is worse than originally thought.

"The sad part is the damage as you're going up to the left side is so extensive," said Mayor Cadieux. "We couldn't see that, at first it just looked like the tops of the trees were off, well it's not, they're all uprooted and all hanging, so it is massive damage."

At one point Wednesday morning, 6,500 customers lost electricity.

Emergency management crews took NECN on a tour of the cleanup, which at times looked overwhelming. The storm snapped tree tops like they were toothpicks, uprooted evergreens and pulled down power lines, twisting them into a tangled mess.

"Because it hit the western side of the Mount Tom range, the wind had nowhere to go. It kind of funneled it into this spot and that's what created the - what they're saying is a minimum of 100 mile-an-hour winds," Easthampton Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director David Mottor said.

NECN Chief Meteorologist Matt Noyes said the radar signature was conducive to a large swath of straight line wind damage this morning, possibly a downburst.

"You can occasionally get spinups on either side of a downburst," he said.

Power has been offiicially restored to all homes except the last home on Mountain Road, where they will have to completely redo the power lines. Easthampton officials say they believe Route 141, which is Mountain Road, will be shut down for tree clean-up through at least midday Friday.

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