Great Barrington tornado 14 years later

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. (WWLP) - The Great Barrington tornado touched down in 1995 on Memorial Day and it is a day many Berkshire County residents will never forget.

It was just before 7 p.m. on May 29th, 1995 when severe thunderstorms moved into Berkshire County producing an F4 tornado that ripped through the town of Great Barrington.

Fourteen years later residents still recall the devastation the tornado caused.

“As we approached the scene I was making a report and the driver said oh my God, and I looked up and it was just mass destruction,” said Great Barrington Deputy Fire Chief Ed McCormick.

“I said to my listeners on the air I said the Great Barrington Fairgrounds as you know them are no more. The tornado came across the cemetery, it flattened the gas station and jumped Route 7 and went down into the fairgrounds and literally flattened buildings,” said Tom Jay retired WSBS disc jockey.

In all three people lost their lives. Two students and a staff member from the Eagleton School died when the car they were in was picked up and thrown by the tornado.

“In cutting up the timber that was on the land we were able to use the timber to build the chapel and put it on the spot where the children had died and it some how became comforting to us and a place of worshiping and of respect,” said Bruce Bona the Executive Director of the Eagleton School.

In addition to the chapel a plaque was placed in front of the cemetery where the tornado touched down, honoring the memory of those who died and giving recognition to all of those who helped following the devastating event.