Today's storm brought pounding rain, limb-snapping gusts and a tornado.
"Holy (expletive), there's a tornado in our backyard," one Webster woman posted in a video on YouTube as the twister hit the town this morning.
The National Weather Service confirmed the twister hit the small town of Webster, located on the Connecticut border south of Worcester.
[CONFIRMED TORNADO] Webster, MA; however continuing to survey the damage, will take quite sometime to determine strength, path-length, etc.
— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) August 4, 2018
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On the scene of serious storm damage in Webster at West Main and Chase Avenue pic.twitter.com/1XP1dFfY4B
— Gerard F. Russell (@GerardFRussell) August 4, 2018
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Police said a woman was injured in the central Massachusetts town when a piece of debris hit her car during the storm. She had been driving and suffered minor injuries.
Buildings in the town were damaged, with roofs ripped off of homes and utility poles snapped in half. The storm hit around 10 a.m., according to multiple reports.
State officials reported this afternoon that the "most significant damage" was along Main Street in Webster near the Dudley town line. Three buildings have been condemned – two commercial and one mixed use that included several apartments in the upper levels. Another four to five buildings are declared uninhabitable.
Twenty-five people have been left homeless. The Red Cross is on the scene.
A flash flood warning was also issued for most of the state as the line of storms pushed east and is heading out to sea.
The Herald is in Webster. We will update this story in the coming hours.
Were you stuck in the tornado? Call the City Desk at 617-619-6493.
[220p] Heavy rain across SE New England; getting numerous reports out of #FallRiver of roads impassable, inundated; rainfall reports of 1-2” in less than an hour, welcome any & all reports, send to @WX1BOX pic.twitter.com/34DQW14qM4
— NWS Boston (@NWSBoston) August 4, 2018
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A viewer shared this damage from the Mass. town of #Webster. NWS storm survey crews are en-route to survey damage to determine if it was a tornado. #MAwx #WCVBstorm pic.twitter.com/8B7KpeSRgi
— WCVB-TV Boston (@WCVB) August 4, 2018
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Crews tearing down buildings damaged by today’s storm in Webster. @NWSBoston confirmed a tornado came through here earlier today. @wpri12 pic.twitter.com/CrkKoTnChJ
— Eric Halperin- WPRI (@EricHalperinTV) August 4, 2018
