CONWAY – Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, seeing up close the damage from Saturday’s tornado, said it was a miracle that no one was injured or killed.
“We are very fortunate that no one was injured by this force of nature,” she said.
The tornado, which tore through town Saturday evening, was not predicted, and residents had no time to seek shelter from the destructive winds, she said.
Polito said she spoke to one man who said he and his wife had settled down to relax over a beer in their home Saturday night when they heard what sounded like a freight train going down the road. When he went to the door to check, he felt as if he was going to be pulled outside, she said.
“It’s just a miracle that these individuals who were in their homes were not injured by the storm,” she said.
Polito, joined by local and state officials and members of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, toured areas of the town that were hit hard by the EF-1 tornado.
The tour was of a half-mile section of Whately Road and Old Cricket Hill road that was hit hard by the tornado. Trees were missing their tops, and had evidence of missing limbs. One tree had several long pieces of aluminum roof sheeting wrapped around it like a ribbon.
Several houses along the route were heavily damaged, an old barn that had been the home of J&J Maggs Antiques was literally flattened, and the United Congregation Church had a hole in its roof and structural damage to its steeple.
The steeple appears undamaged, but Conway Fire Chief Robert Baker said it was twisted off its foundation by two or so inches. The hole in the roof was caused by a 4 inch by 4 inch beam that punched its way through and planted itself several inches into the floor of the church.
He said the beam is believed to have been ripped off the barn at J&J Maggs Antiques, a quarter mile down the road.
The church and many of the buildings on the street are uninhabitable until they can be inspected.
Polito said all electrical power has been restored, to which she gave thanks to Eversource. Roughly 30 roads that were closed due to falling trees have also been reopened.
She gave credit to town departments, and six state agencies that assisted them in restoring vital infrastructure in such a short time.
“The emergency response was rapid, collaborative and worked to restore the community,” she said.
Efforts are now underway to assess damaged buildings and to try to come up with an estimated cost of damages.
The scope of the damage was far too limited for Conway to see any federal assistance, said MEMA director Kurt N. Schwartz.
To qualify for federal disaster assistance under the Federal Emergency Management Agency, damage to public infrastructure and buildings needs to be in the millions, and the number of damaged privately owned buildings needs to be in the hundreds, he said.
“It’s a whole other scale,” he said.
He said he expects Conway officials to meet with their state legislators, who will then seek state assistance in disaster relief. Any relief would have to come in supplemental funding from the legislature.
“And those conversations have already started,” he said.
Polito said whatever the final cost is, the state will likely have to step in to assist with paying for it in emergency relief.
“Being a small town with a $5 million budget and around 2,000 people, they obviously have limited resources to restore this community,” she said.
by Patrick Johnson
February 27, 2017 at 4:01 PM, updated February 27, 2017 at 4:03 PM
