“I come get my mail, sit on my steps, and cry sometimes,’’ said Rogers, 39. “I’m still paying the mortgage on a house that isn’t here.’’
This has been a winter of discontent for many victims of the tornado that carved a 39-mile path of destruction through Western Massachusetts on June 1, killing four people and damaging or destroying nearly 2,000 homes and businesses in more than a dozen communities. Though they’ve been touched by the outpourings of support - from Governor Deval Patrick’s visit to the region last June to the man who used to hand out barbecued chicken on Bethany Road - most victims are far from getting their lives back.
Long after the Red Cross and other emergency service providers went home, the storm goes on for the victims. From disputes with contractors to government red tape, victims of the tornado are navigating a bureaucratic maze that, for some, is nearly as dispiriting as sifting through the rubble of their homes after the 160-mile-per-hour winds blew through town.
In Monson, which had at least $29 million in damage and one death from the most destructive tornado to hit Massachusetts since 1953, only about a third of the 272 storm-damaged homes have been restored. Town officials say that at least 31 families are still living in temporary shelter because their former homes are uninhabitable. That’s down from at least 75 families displaced immediately after the storm, but small comfort to all the people living in temporary trailers or wherever else they can find shelter.
The brick town hall remains boarded up, too; the storm tore the roof off. Renovating the 87-year-old structure is estimated to cost $9 million, $3.7 million more than the town’s insurance policy is expected to pay, while building something new would cost an estimated $13 million. In the meantime, town officials are bracing for a long stay in temporary quarters.
