Officials Warn Of Tornado Scammers

More than a week has passed since a tornado claimed the life of one resident and significantly damaged about 10 percent of the homes in the western Massachusetts town of Brimfield.

Town leaders are holding a meeting on the common Saturday to update residents on the cleanup and recovery efforts and to let them know what assistance is available from the state and federal governments. Officials from the town will also warn residents to be wary of "scammers."

"We find that there have been a great number of contractors and other people less scrupulous than the average good citizen, who have come to town and tried to take advantage of the citizens in their time of need," said Charles Kuss, the chief of police in Brimfield.

Kuss said the main problem is that many of the contractors coming into town are not licensed.