WEBSTER, MASS. (WHDH) - Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito and other state officials surveyed storm damage in Webster Saturday, hours after a tornado damaged buildings, knocked out power, and left dozens of residents displaced.
“There are many instances here of women and children and families that need Red Cross assistance and emergency services and from the state perspective we’ll make sure they get all the support they need in the days and weeks ahead,” Polito said while speaking to reporters in the shadow of two severely damaged buildings.
Polito said she and other state officials were there to “say thank you to the emergency responders for the work that they do” and “to reassure this community that they’re doing everything to make sure that they’re safe … that the property that is here and has been assessed as unstable is going to be demolished” and “to make sure that the residents who have been displaced have a process where they can seek shelter and have all the support they need.”
Polito said representatives of MEMA and FEMA were also surveying the damage and that she and Gov. Charlie Baker would use their assessment to determine if they’d request federal aid.
“Part of the presence here today and in the days to follow will be to do these assessments, see what the calculations are for the damages, and to determine what programs are available to the property owners, to the municipality, and the residents,” she said.
After noting that the National Weather Service estimates that a small number of tornadoes touch down in the Bay State every year, Polito said she and Baker are working with communities across the state to make the necessary changes to prepare for stronger storms as a result of climate change.
“We are doing everything we can as a state to help municipalities be more resilient to climate changes and to build out adaptation plans,” she said. “We have about 42 percent of our communities that are doing municipal vulnerability assessments and preparing for the changes in our climate.”
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