A Foxboro, Massachusetts, neighborhood is still recovering after getting hit by a tornado over the weekend.
The National Weather Service says the twister touched down on Windsor Drive Saturday, snapping limbs and toppling trees.
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“It happened quickly. It was hard and fast,” said Deb Gallagher who lost 15 trees in her yard from the tornado with speeds of more than 100 miles per hour.
“The amount of extreme weather that I’ve had to deal with in the past 10 years seems to be at a quicker, faster rate than it was when I first got in 30 years ago,” said Andy Nash, chief meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Boston.
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In all, Nash says New England has seen four tornadoes this month. That’s typical. What isn’t typical is the amount of rainfall in Western Massachusetts and Vermont.
Nash says it’ll take more research to see if changing climate patterns are influencing our weather, including tornadoes here in New England.
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“It’s hard to pick that out when you’re looking at climate change. It’s a global thing and trying to pinpoint it down to a very small phenomenon is pretty difficult so science is working on it we don’t have an answer,” Nash said.
In the last two weeks, two tornadoes have been confirmed in North Brookfield and Foxboro. The state’s emergency management agency, or MEMA, has been involved in the investigation, using a five-year plan for dealing with extreme weather.
“The plan identifies risks that the Commonwealth may face due to climate change or hazards that were accustom to to seeing already,” said Sara Porter of MEMA.
On Windsor Drive in Foxboro, they’re still assessing the damage and just glad no one was hurt.
“Just a few of the houses on the street got hit really bad and other houses they haven’t been touched,” Gallagher said.
