Before And After the Storm

Yesterday I took what I refer to as the "back way" home from Enfield, through Somers, Hampden and Monson up to route 32 rather than just taking the Pike.  It was my first trip through the area since the tornadoes of June 1st had cut a swath through the region.

My route intersected with the path of destruction along a stretch of Upper Hampden Road in Monson and even now, a week and a half later it's still chilling to see the damage that was done.  Compared to this, the ice storm that hit our area a few years ago was just a breezy day with a bad chill.  If you look at Google's street view of this location, you can see where it was once thick and green with trees and a house and garage were situated near the road:

Sadly, that's not the case anymore.

My feeble attempt at cell phone photo blogging doesn't do the view here justice.  It's scary to look at this and realize this destruction wasn't caused by a machine or a bomb.  This dense, old forest and the homes in and around it were buzz-sawed through by 160 MPH winds carrying a massive debris field.

As I continued my trip home, I stopped at Lowe's for a few things and I was asked if I wanted to donate to the local cleanup and restoration efforts.  When you've seen first-hand just what happened to this area and the people who live here, how can you not want to help?