Jun 8, 2009 6:56 pm US/Eastern
Family Shares Video From Worcester's 1953 Tornado
WORCESTER (WBZ) ―
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A local family has released home movies from 1953 capturing the aftermath in rare full color view.
WBZ
Tuesday marks the anniversary of the Worcester Tornado.
A local family has released home movies capturing the aftermath in rare full color view.
Kathy Lundstrom grew up on home videos taken by her father, Henry Ekberg. "Once a year when we were kids, my father would get out the projector and we would watch all the fun we had as a family. The viewing also included my father's footage of destruction from the Worcester Tornado," said Kathy.
On the afternoon of June 9, 1953, Henry Ekberg left his job at the Norton Company early--a move that saved his life. Many others at the Norton Company perished in the events that soon unfolded that fateful day.
Arriving at the family home, Kathy recounts her father's story. "There was hail and heavy rain. My father sought shelter in the detached garage but my grandmother wanted him inside. She said 'You better come in because I have a really bad feeling about this,'" recalled Kathy.
As the wind increased, the family soon sought refuge in the basement. "They didn't know what was happening. They thought it was the end of the world," she recalled.
After it was over, the family home spared, Henry Ekberg grabbed his home movie camera and began to record the scenes of destruction. "Some streets in the neighborhood were not touched. Other streets were a total disaster," Kathy commented.
Her father told incredible stories from that day including one about the local wildlife. "After the tornado, my father saw turtles, fish, and frogs scattered about. It turns out that the tornado had sucked up the contents of a local pond just like a vacuum cleaner and dumped everything from the pond out on the neighborhood. What was even more remarkable is that all the animals were headed back in the direction of the pond. Due west! They were headed home," Kathy chuckled.
"What kind of mark did the Worcester Tornado leave on your family?" WBZ's Mish Michaels asked.
"It was a sad time. It was sad that so many people lost their lives. My father never let us forget the events of that day. I was scared of tornadoes as a kid and anytime we got hail, my father would send the whole family into the basement," said Kathy.
Kathy still lives only a few streets away from her father's childhood home.
Since 1953, her neighborhood has faced more recent challenges. Many of the trees were planted after the tornado and in the last year they have been hit hard by the December ice storm and the invasion of the Asian Longhorned Beetle. But as Kathy points out, "Our neighborhood is resilient. We will replant the trees and cover over the scars once again."
Back in 1953, the Worcester Tornado tracked 42 miles through our state. It had been the longest single tracked tornado in New England history until last summer when a tornado cut through central New Hampshire. Last July, this historic tornado tracked almost 50 miles.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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