by Bill Wells Director of Student Promotion
HISTORY: FROM THE ARCHIVES
Anniversary of close-call tornado brings back memories to campus On June 1, 2011, the unthinkable happened—a persistent tornado carved a 39-mile path of destruction through 10 towns and cities in Western Massachusetts. The EF-3, which reached a width of a half mile, destroyed approximately 500 homes and caused millions of dollars in damage. Three people were killed. The tornado sliced through the town of Wilbraham, one of the hardest hit areas. Wilbraham & Monson Academy was spared, the treacherous trail just a mile south of campus. Interestingly, the twister exited Wilbraham into Monson, where it ripped through the former site of Monson Academy. Below are accounts—in their own words—from current WMA Faculty and Staff regarding that memorable and disturbing day. Brian Easler Then Associate Head of School, Dean of Students
The seniors were gone and we were still in school. I was in the Deans Office and (Administrative Assistant) Cindy Shults had the alert radio, but honestly, we would get those alerts all the time. I was thinking: Tornado? Western Massachusetts? Never going to happen. I had actually just called my wife and told her I was thinking of getting a haircut before dinner, and she said, “Are you hearing the tornado warnings?” She convinced me to stay and not go get my haircut. I was sitting in the Deans Office, and I got a call from someone and they were at work in the Agawam/West Springfield area. They said there was a tornado and it was headed for us. That’s when I started to take it seriously. I was tracking it on my phone but still not super worried. We gave the order on campus to shelter in place. I went up to Rich 4 and my plan was to start clearing my way through the floors. Some of the boys were in the shower and I was calm Mr. Easler, asking them to hurry up and get to the basement. I was standing in the lobby and looking out the back window. It’s a tiny window. I remember looking out the window and thinking, “What is that?” I went closer to the window and it looked like there was a big smudge on the window. Things weren’t connecting in my head, and then I saw a roof lift off one of the houses on Tinkham Road and vaporized inside the smudge. And then I turned around and was no longer calm Mr. Easler to the boys. We got down to the basement fast. We were all huddled in the basement of Rich. We had people in the basement of Smith, Wallace Blake, I think there were some folks sheltering in the gym. Campus wasn’t full so it wasn’t too bad. People were nervous and I was tracking the tornado on my phone. We could see it wasn’t right on top of us. Once it looked like it was moving away from us I came up and went on the front porch of Rich. Mostly I was making sure there weren’t any stragglers on campus. I stood on the porch and thought, “What’s that noise?” It sounded like a freight train. Again, the dots weren’t connecting for me. All of a sudden, I realized that was the tornado crossing Main Street. It was a mile down the road. We stayed sheltered until it was all clear and then we let everybody out. It was a crazy hour.
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AC ADEMY WORLD SPRING 2021
Erik Kindblom Dean of Studies
I remember being the head coach of (daughter, Class of ’17) Emma’s youth softball team. All the parents were contacting me about a bad storm coming in and wondering if the game was canceled. I told them it was not canceled yet and only go to the game if they felt comfortable doing so. Emma and I hopped in the car and were off to the game, which I think was at Greenleaf Park that day in Springfield. We had just crossed the Stony Hill Road intersection and received word the game was canceled. We turned around and zipped home. I turned on the news when we got home and saw the tornado coming up the Connecticut River. After a couple minutes, I told the family it’s time to grab the pets and head downstairs. (Wife) Anne noticed two or three international students walking toward campus from the Village Store. I went out and told them to immediately come to our basement. I never heard any train-like whistles. I recall wind and dark clouds. We waited and waited. I can’t remember how long. We reached a point when things seemed safe, and I brought the international students into Rich Hall to the Campus Center staircase and told them to join the other students. I caught up with Brian Easler and remember standing with him and looking at the southwest sky from the Rich Hall parking lot and seeing orange and dark gray skies—very ominous. You kind of felt safe because they were in the distance, but then again you didn’t feel safe because the sky looked dangerous.
