NORTH ATTLEBORO, MASS. (WHDH) - A tornado with winds up to 100 miles-per-hour touched down in Rhode Island and traveled into North Attleboro, Massachusetts Wednesday night, the National Weather Service confirmed.
The NWS in a bulletin said the tornado started in Lincoln, Rhode Island. It then passed through Cumberland, Rhode island on its way to North Attleboro.
The tornado happened as a line of strong storms made their way across southern New England and threw several trees onto homes along its path.
“These people must have been really scared,” said one person in North Attleboro. “I know my friend said it was like a freight train coming through.”
The wild weather started in the early evening and continued for several hours, bringing powerful wind, downpours, and lightning to a wide swath of land from Pennsylvania to Massachusetts.
Bolts of lightning lit up the night sky in Revere and other communities, where flashes came fast and frequently during the storm.
In North Attleboro, downed trees and fallen branches could be seen after sunrise.
Among the damage, one tree on Longview Drive appeared to be charred from a lightning strike. Another tree was completely uprooted from the ground.
“I witnessed quite a few trees down and furniture blowing around, birdhouses blowing off,” said North Attleboro resident Danny Ellis. “Definitely, the storm had lifted everything because my neighbor’s stuff was in my yard.”
Another person told 7NEWS he saw firetrucks speeding through the area overnight.
“We look out this morning and we look at this and we’re going ‘What happened?’” he said.
While significant in some spots, North Attleboro Fire Chief Chris Coleman said the damage did not span the entire community.
“It kind of jumped an area and then it did hit on the east side of our town off of Kelly Boulevard with the same conditions,” he said.
Before officials officially confirmed a tornado, one NWS expert discussed what he saw.
“When you see damage sporadically along a path, it would be more indicative, most often of a tornado that maybe lifted up, dropped back down and lifted up,” the expert said.
Officials shared additional details later Thursday afternoon. According to an NWS report, the tornado touched down at 11:23 p.m. near Breakneck Hill Road in Lincoln and lifted at 11:30 p.m. near Cushman Road in North Attleboro. It ranked as an EF1 tornado and blazed a 4.3 mile path path through the area. At its widest point, the tornado spanned 100 yards.
Outside North Attleboro, the Duxbury Fire Department in a post on X near 2 a.m. said “The town has been hit by a significant weather event.”
“Many roads are impassable and we have numerous power outages,” the fire department warned.
In Seekonk, toppling trees created a mess at Seekonk High School. In one video, police showed large tree branches piled in the parking lot.
In another post on X, Seekonk police said the storm damaged an American flag at the high school. After noticing the flag hanging upside down, police said, a sergeant lowered the flag and secured it.
“Making us proud, Sir,” police said. “Thank you.”
In Malden, the city’s fire department said wild weather sent a tree crashing onto a home on Springdale Street.
In addition to the house, the Malden Fire Department in a post on X said the tree landed on several vehicles and affected live power lines.
The fire department said firefighters examined the home and determined there was no major structural damage.
Thursday’s Red Sox’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays was paused and ultimately postponed after torrential rain hit Fenway Park, sending water pouring down stairwells in part of the stadium.
In Foxboro, officials at Gillette Stadium asked fans at a concert for country music star Zach Bryan to shelter in place for roughly one hour due to severe weather.
In Mansfield, extreme weather knocked out power to one neighborhood after a tree on West Street came down and took an electric pole with it.
Other damage included severe flooding on roads in Worcester.
In Connecticut, the National Weather Service reported a peak wind gust from the storm exceeding 70 miles-per-hour.
The Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency reported more than 11,000 energy customers without power statewide as of around 9:30 a.m. Halifax had the highest proportion of residents in the dark, with power out across 79% of the town.
By 1:15 p.m., the number of customers without power in Massachusetts was down to just under 5,400. Only 30% of Halifax customers were still without power.
Near 4 p.m., SKY7-HD spotted snapped trees in Lincoln, Rhode Island, where the tornado touched down.
In Cumberland, Rhode Island, a shed behind a house was completely destroyed by a fallen tree. The homeowner said the shed was built in the 1960s.
“We were asleep, so we didn’t see the alerts on the phone. We woke up to wind breaking things and we heard booms, and it’s scary,” said homeowner Robert Khimetian. “And the lightning was green. It was the oddest thing. It was green.”
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This latest round of severe weather came just a matter of days after strong storms triggered tornado warnings in multiple New England states.
The National Weather Service confirmed one tornado touched down near 5 p.m. Sunday in Dublin, New Hampshire, bringing peak winds of 90 miles-per-hour. The tornado lifted a truck, snapped dozens of trees, and damaged shingles on one local home, according to a storm survey.
After recent wet and stormy weather, New England residents woke up to clearer skies Thursday. Humidity was expected to fall through the day ahead of more clear skies Friday.
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