Red Cross helps over 40 displaced after Webster tornado

By: Amanda Pitts

alpitts@abc6.com

@AmandaPittsTV

Just a few blocks away from where disaster struck two days ago in Webster, residents in need are streaming into the Resource Recovery Center set up by the American Red Cross.

“We have a host of state agencies, regional and local agencies, and private or non profit organizations to really help people address their immediate needs.”

Kurt Schwartz, Director of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, said the biggest need right now is housing. Saturday’s tornado displaced 43 people after two buildings were torn down due to damage and two more were placarded as uninhabitable.

Schwartz said the Red Cross has put those people up in hotels.

At the center Monday, government agencies gave people the information they needed to get back on their feet.

"Bottom line is we’re here, the community is here to support the people as long as it takes."

People like Marie LaFountain who lives a mile away from Main Street, and says her neighborhood was one of the hardest hit.

"The wind picked up at a speed I couldn’t even explain and the branches started wrapping around the trees.”

Those trees fell on the roof of her apartment on Emil Street, knocking out power and forcing her to hide in the basement with her mother.

"You could literally hear the doors and windows go "shloop!" and at that point I thought everything was gonna blow in on me."

Maria’s mom has heart failure and dementia, and with the power outage, her family and neighbors are doing all they can to help.

"We have people who have stepped up and offered to help volunteer with chainsaws, we even had one person contact my son stating he’s an amputee ready to just pick up, do whatever he can to help."

A fund has been set up for displaced residents through the Webster First Federal Credit Union.

Click here to donate to the “Webster Tornado Relief” fund.

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