Photos Tell Devastating Tornado Stories

The First Church of Monson was hit hard by the tornado. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Volunteers worked to salvage all they could. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

The church's steeple lays strewn on the ground. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Tornado survivors survey the damage along Washington Street in Monson. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

The damage along Washington Street in Monson was tremendous. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

(Jesse Costa/WBUR)

(Jesse Costa/WBUR)

(Jesse Costa/WBUR)

This man's Dodge Duster -- named for a tornado -- was spared the storms' wrath. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Gov. Deval Patrick, center, and Sen. John Kerry, right, tour Monson to get a closer look at the damage. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Sen. Scott Brown speaks to reporters after touring the damage in Monson. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

A mobile home that had been picked up and demolished by a tornado, sits broken in Brimfield. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Stephen Phifer, left, speaks to neighbor Dennis Keough about the tornado in Brimfield. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

The remnants of the second floor of a house that was blown off in the Brimfield tornado. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Trees on the hillside were ripped apart. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

A truck that had been thrown by the tornado sits, crumpled. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Stephen Phifer's truck sits, destroyed. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

A guitar ended up in a tree in Brimfield. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

A speed limit signs sits crushed beneath brush and trees on Hollow Road in Brimfield. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

An uprooted tree causes damage to the walkway in Court Square Park in Downtown Springfield. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Bricks lay around the Howard Street School from roof damage caused by the tornado in Springfield , June 1, 2011. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

(Jesse Costa/WBUR)

A Jeep parked in front of the Howard Street School lays damaged. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

One side of the Sound End Community Center in Springfield was ripped off during the tornado. The other side completely collapsed. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

The Howard Street School in Springfield (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Damage on Main St. in Springfield (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Massachusetts State Police stand by the collapsed roof of the South End Community Center in Springfield. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

The roof of this Union Street apartment building was ripped off during the tornado in Springfield. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Crews help clean up Springfield's Howard Street. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

(Jesse Costa/WBUR)

The rooftop and walls were ripped off an apartment building in the South End area of Springfield. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Bricks and debris cover a parked car in the South End area of Springfield. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

(Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Bricks and debris cover a parked car in the South End area of Springfield. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)