It was 10 years ago this week on Monday morning, July 28, that Revere made national news when a tornado touched down at Mill Creek and tracked up Broadway to Brown Circle, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake that can only be described as something that one might see in a war zone.
When area residents awoke Monday and set out on their business for the day, there was no sign or warning of what Mother Nature would have in store for them at 9:34 that morning. But in the course of approximately five terrifying minutes, an F2 tornado — in all its fury and unpredictability — swept down Broadway and adjacent streets, causing tremendous damage to businesses, buildings, and homes.
Revere’s public safety departments – our firefighters and police officers – were on the scene within minutes of the tornado’s strike, doing everything they could to restore calm and order and to assist residents, almost all of whom had never witnessed a tornado in their lifetimes and who were in a shell-shocked state. In addition, the outpouring of assistance from Revere’s neighboring communities and their public safety personnel in the aftermath of the tornado was heartwarming.
The workers of the city’s Department of Public Works labored around the clock to clean the debris that resulted from the tornado and quickly restored a sense of normalcy to neighborhoods that were strewn with wires, trees, branches, and metal objects.
For those who were in the path of the F2 tornado, it is something that they will never forget. Miraculously, despite the immense destruction caused by the twister, which lifted roofs off buildings, blew out windows in City Hall, uprooted large trees, and tossed cars around like Lego toys, nobody was killed and there were no serious injuries.
In this week’s Through the Years column, we have reprinted a lengthy excerpt of our front page news story of the Tornado of 2014, which now is a chapter in the city’s history. It will stand alone as an incredible weather happening — the type of which we hope we will never witness again.
