City Still Coping with Tornado Damages Five Years Later

Five years after Revere’s infamous tornado on the morning of July 28, 2014, the city is still making repairs. The EF-2 tornado had estimated peak winds of 100 to 120 mph. It cut a two-mile path in the Broadway area. A tree went through the high school, lines were down everywhere and streets were impassable. Many buildings were damaged, including ones owned by the city.

Overseeing all the tornado-related repairs is George Anzuoni, director of finance for the city. For the past five years Anzuoni and a small tornado committee have dealt with the insurance companies, contractors, piles of paperwork and more.

Anzuoni predicts it will take another year or two to make things right. The work has taken this long purely because of the process that the city had to go through. Compiling data and having the right paperwork took time to be done right.

“We documented every bit of damage,” he said.

At City Hall,  the roof, which some say was lifted by the wind, was repaired at a cost of $1.3 million. The cupola and the clock tower were repaired. The clock is now an atomic clock, which sets itself and is accurate. At night the clock tower faces light up.

The City Hall project also included installing copper downspouts and new gutters.

“This gave us a chance to do a complete roof,” Anzuoni said.

Another area in City Hall that still has to repair is on the second floor where water leaked into the Council Chambers, the auditorium, and some smaller south-facing areas around windows. Since the walls are plaster they have to be scraped down and re-plastered properly.

“The storm’s full force hit the south side of the building. That’s how we knew the storm was coming,” Anzuoni said.

A number of offices on the second floor were also damaged. The second-floor damaged is being assessed by the city and its insurance companies at this time. Anzuoni said there may be other renovations in City Hall and some moving around of offices.

“The building shook,” he said. “It caused some problems with pipes and sewer lines. We’ve taken care of all that.”

In addition to City Hall, there were many other tornado repairs to municipal buildings.

“We’ve done a number of roofs,” he said. “We took care of City Hall last because the schools were most important.”

A new roof at the high school, another new roof at the senior center, the American Legion building, the central fire station and the Parks and Recreation roof.

All total, Anzuoni believes the final cost will be about $6 million, all from insurance money.