Mattapoisett residents start to clean up after tornado hits neighborhood

MATTAPOISETT, Mass. (WLNE) — Cleanup efforts got underway Wednesday morning in Mattapoisett after a tornado touched down on Eldorado Drive and knocked down trees and power lines in the area.

Nobody was hurt as the twister touched down, but the neighborhood was left without power into Wednesday morning.

Some residents, like Dan Roellke, were home at the time and stayed inside as the tornado hit.

For Roellke, his backyard was heavily damaged by down trees and branches, with one of his trees falling right between his home and garage, missing his living room by just a matter of feet.

“This tree just comes down right in front of my face and if it was just a few feet to the right, it would’ve come right into the house and right where I was standing,” explained Roellke.

The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down in the Mattapoisett neighborhood at about 11:20 a.m. Tuesday. It was on the ground for three minutes and left heavy damage in its path with sustained wind speeds of about 95 mph.

“It all happened in such a short amount of time which was the craziest part,” Roellke told ABC6 News. “All of a sudden, I just look out the window and my whole yard was gone in a second.”