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    Monday, May 20, 2024

    Communities across New England picking up after spate of tornadoes

    In this photo provided by George Viau, a tornado that firefighters say lifted a sedan 10 feet into the air is seen on I-295 in Johnston, R.I., on Friday, Aug. 18, 2023. Firefighters rushed to help the startled motorist on Interstate 295 on Friday and found her unharmed. Storms damaged homes and cars and made for hazardous driving across New England. (George Viau via AP)
    A crew works to clear downed trees, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, in Scituate, R.I., after severe weather swept through the area. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
    Homeowner Jon Freitag of 48 Lisa Drive in North Attleboro, Mass. surveys the damage in his backyard after high winds toppled a large oak tree, Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, destroying his kids' play structure and some patio furniture. (Mark Stockwell/The Sun Chronicle via AP)

    BOSTON (AP) — Communities across New England were picking up Saturday a day after a spate of tornadoes swept through the region.

    Four tornadoes were confirmed in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and the National Weather Service was investigating a possible fifth in eastern Connecticut.

    Friday's strong winds knocked down trees, damaged homes, flooded roadways and in one case, lifted a car off a highway in Rhode Island.

    There were no injuries reported.

    In Rhode Island, a tornado caused damage in Johnston, Scituate, and North Providence. The most severe damage happened in Scituate where hundreds of large trees were uprooted or snapped at their bases. In Johnston, the storms took down about 100 trees at Highland Park Memorial Cemetery.

    The tornado was the strongest to strike Rhode Island since an F-2 tornado touched down in Cranston and Providence on Aug. 7, 1986, according to the weather service.

    A tornado briefly touched down in Stoughton, Mass., toppling trees, one of which fell onto a shed.

    Another tornado uprooted trees and tore shingles off the roof of a house in Weymouth, Mass. The weather service said a witness taking shelter in a basement spotted swirling debris out a window.

    A fourth tornado was confirmed in North Attleborough and Mansfield, Mass., area.

    Rhode Island residents in the path of the tornado were continuing to clean up debris Saturday, including clearing fallen trees away from 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 yet to get calls for help from communities in the path of the tornadoes according to Christian Cunnie of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency.

    “We haven’t received any requests for assistance from the towns,” he said.

    New England usually gets only a few tornadoes a year. Most — but not all — are relatively weak.

    In 2011, a powerful tornado killed three people and caused severe damage in western Massachusetts. And in 1953, a powerful tornado killed 94 people and injured nearly 1,300 in central Massachusetts, including the city of Worcester. It lasted nearly 1 1/2 hours and damaged or destroyed 4,000 buildings.

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