SOUTHWICK – Mother Nature certainly dominated the headlines in 2011. From heavy snow to a tornado, an earthquake, flooding, a tropical storm and a fall blizzard, she showed the region she is still in charge.
In Southwick, Emergency Management Director Charles Dunlap joined the Southwick Police and Fire in responding to the weather events that seemed to plague the area this past year.
“It was an extraordinarily eventful year,” said Dunlap. “I hope it was a once-in-a-lifetime event. “Dunlap said 2011 was “the most eventful year” he has ever seen.
“It was relentless for a while,” he said.
Dunlap said while many surrounding towns suffered from heavy snow in January and February, Southwick “escaped fairly well.”
“There were communities throughout Massachusetts that had a lot of buildings sustain damage,” said Dunlap. “Southwick did not have a major event.”
Fast-forward to June 1 and once again, Southwick escaped a hit from the tornado.
“All of New England, especially Western Mass., had conditions set for Mother Nature’s wrath that day,” Dunlap recalled. “We didn’t know when or where, but the National weather Service (NWS) was predicting weather conditions favorable for a tornado.”
While Dunlap was happy Southwick was not hit, he said he was concerned for neighboring communities that were damaged.
“I have concerns for the residents affected,” he said. ‘”It is just devastating.”
Southwick, however, was hit pretty hard by high winds a week after the tornado.
“Six or seven days later we had a micro-burst and we had 16 roads affected in Southwick,” Dunlap said. “We were affected very badly when that wind storm came through.”
The next event that hit Western Massachusetts was Tropical Storm Irene, which was downgraded from a hurricane by the time it struck the area.
“We had a lot of flooding from that one,” said Dunlap.
The biggest event to adversely affect Southwick was the Oct. 29 snowstorm.
“With the ‘Snowtober’ event, it was like a storybook storm,” said Dunlap. “You could predict it but still not understand the reality of what was to come.”
Many town residents went a week without electricity and lines at the open gas stations caused traffic jams throughout town. Dunlap said while it appeared winter was starting early this year, it has actually been pretty mild.
“Mother Nature has been very good to us recently,” Dunlap said. “She is giving us a little reprieve.”
Dunlap said the weather pattern has changed and warm temperatures have been on tap.
“I’m not a weather forecaster, but I do work closely with the NWS,” said Dunlap.
Dunlap said he has high hopes for 2012.
“I’m hoping for a much milder 2012 in dealing with all hazards, not just the weather,” he said. “There’s also civil unrest, terrorism, chemical hazards – I’m hoping for a good year.”
