There continues to be challenges two years after tornadoes ripped through the region including unresolved insurance claims filed by some homeowners and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield.
Two years have passed since a massive tornado carved a path of destruction through western and central Massachusetts, and the anniversary spurred many officials to praise the extensive rebuilding efforts since that date while acknowledging that a full recovery remains a challenging, elusive goal for some victims.
The tornado of June 1, 2011, took three lives and left hundreds of homes and businesses reduced partially or completely to rubble along with devastating thousands of trees along local roads and in wooded areas. The tornado caused two deaths in West Springfield and one death in Brimfield.
Much progress has been made in rebuilding, aided by many millions of dollars in private insurance funds and state grant assistance, and more than $31 million in federal disaster aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, officials said. The communities were also aided by approximately $16.7 million in low interest loans to businesses and individuals from the Small Business Administration, officials said.
The tornado tore a 39-mile path through eight communities, from Westfield to Charlton, also including Springfield, West Springfield, Wilbraham, Monson and Brimfield. Two other, smaller, tornadoes were confirmed that day.
Springfield Mayor Domenic J. Sarno praised the effort by private and public individuals, agencies and organizations in rebuilding. Sarno said it has been “a long and arduous recovery process.”
“While some pockets of challenges remain, we will remain resolute in conquering them,” Sarno said. “The city of Springfield is coming back bigger and stronger because of its resilient character.”
“Two years later, we have made tremendous progress,” said Geraldine McCafferty, the director of the Springfield Office of Housing. “A lot of housing has been rebuilt. There are areas, particularly in Six Corners, where people abandoned housing and we now have a number of vacant lots.”
The damage ranged from devastation of the Brookings School in the Six Corners neighborhood of Springfield -- where a replacement is scheduled for construction, beginning this summer and fall at a new, nearby location -- to Cathedral High School, also in Springfield, still vacant and boarded amidst a dispute between the Roman Catholic Diocese and its insurance provider.
In Monson, which was heavily damaged by the tornado, Town Administrator Gretchen E. Neggers described the residential rebuild as “robust, with a handful of damaged properties remaining.” In addition, the replanting of trees in all sections of the town is expected to continue “into the future for quite some time,” he said.
“The tornado recovery in Monson is ongoing, but positive achievements are evident anywhere you travel near the tornado’s path,” Neggers said. “Realistically, long-term recovery efforts will continue for several more years. It is less daunting now than it was, and we look with optimism and hope to the future of our town and its people.”
In West Springfield, Gareth Flanary, a board member and director of Raising Hope Together, said that city has also recovered well, but a few homes are still uninhabitable. There are cases of homeowners having problems with their insurance companies or mortgage companies, he said.
His group, aided by donations from the private sector and churches, took a lead role in West Springfield’s recovery, helping about 20 homeowners with rebuilding and repair efforts, Flanary said. Generally, those property owners were uninsured or under-insured, he said.
West Springfield Mayor Gregory Neffinger agreed most of the work has been done, and said "we feel pretty good about where we are right now."
The tornado "really made us aware of need to have good plans for emergencies and how we prepare for those emergencies," Neffinger said, adding the city is progressing in that goal.
In Wilbraham, selectmen said there may be some residents in town still struggling with insurance and rebuilding issues following the tornado, but they are not personally aware of any situations. In the past year the town has done a lot of debris cleanup, Wilbraham Selectman James Thompson said.
“You can still tell that something happened, but the town looks a lot better,” he said.
Thompson said he won’t ever forget the June 1, 2011, tornado. “Not in my lifetime.”
The federal disaster aid primarily went to Springfield and some of the surrounding communities, as they were the hardest hit by the tornadoes, said Peter Judge, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. The bulk of the funds reflected 75 percent of the cost for replacing and repairing public infrastructure and for government costs such as overtime, emergency operation centers and shelters, he said.
The amount “gives an idea of how devastating the tornado was,” Judge said.
Students from Cathedral High School, numbering fewer than 300 this year, are now preparing for their third full year at an alternate leased school site in Wilbraham due to the tornado damage at their Surrey Road campus.
Final arbitration hearings between the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield and its property insurance company, Catholic Mutual Group, were scheduled last week. The diocesan consultants have said the school needs to be rebuilt at a cost estimated at $70 million, while Catholic Mutual estimates the building can be repaired for $15 million.
“The faculty, staff, student body and parents are to be commended for carrying on in the face of this difficult relocation and time of uncertainty,” said Mark Dupont, a spokesman for the Springfield diocese.
The arbitration decision is expected in about a month, Dupont said.
Some Springfield homeowners have also struggled to fully rebuild from the tornado, including some matters mired in insurance disputes and in Housing Court, officials said.
Arthur White, of 17 Clark St., moved back into his tornado-damaged home just about five months ago after renovations, and continues to battle with his insurance company over his settlement. In addition, he had purchased a house across the street from the city which was not yet insured when the tornado hit.
The rental house at 18 Clark St., was destroyed and demolished, and White said he does not have the money to rebuild.
“Right now, I don’t have the funds to get it back started,” White said. “It’s definitely hard financially. I used up my life savings, retirement, everything. I also had to use the credit cards.”
White said the stress has been very hard on his wife and himself, and his health has declined.
The Hill Homes housing development on Hickory Street had also received heavy damage from the tornado and was condemned. It has remained mostly vacant, but there are plans to rebuild at a nearby site, McCafferty said.
In Springfield, the city has received $12.3 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and $7.3 million in state reimbursements related to the tornado. In addition, the city is set to receive millions of dollars in state and federal reimbursements for the new Brookings School, slated for completion by January 2015, and a renovation-addition project at the tornado-damaged Mary Dryden School. The Dryden work is under way and the new wing is completed and occupied by students, said Rita L. Coppola-Wallace, the city's director of capital asset construction.
In Monson, Neggers said the town received a check in the amount of $4,095,407.20 as partial reimbursement for the town office/police station building claim. The Main Street building, formerly a school, was condemned after the tornado went through it and will be replaced by a new structure. Voters approved a $3.4 million debt exclusion to help fund the total $10.3 million project.
She said an additional $2,807,033.58 will be released after the initial payment is disbursed and as construction progresses. The total reimbursement will be $6,902,440.78 for that building, Neggers said.
Other insured losses of town property totaled an additional $1.6 million. Neggers said the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association, the town’s insurer, continues to work with the town in assessing and resolving ongoing outstanding claims, including skate park rebuilding, the police communications tower, project management services for the new office building which were not included in the original settlement, and ongoing relocation expenses.
“We are not finished closing all claims and continue to work towards that,” Neggers said.
“Community institutions are in the process of rebuilding, especially the First Church of Monson’s steeple and the town office building,” Neggers said, in an emailed response. “And as the scars on the physical landscape heal, and as we continue to count ourselves blessed that there was no loss of life in Monson, we still work hard every day to move past the terrible event that happened to us on June 1, 2011.”
Staff writers Lori Stabile and Suzanne McLaughlin contributed to this report