Cape hit by tornado, heavy rains amid August storm

BARNSTABLE, Mass. — The Commonwealth was hit by yet another tornado Tuesday morning, the second of the day.

The National Weather Service confirms a tornado hit the town of Barnstable this morning near the village of Marston Mills. This tornado was approximately 1.1 miles long with maximum winds of 80 miles per hour.

One public safety official, who has been on the job for decades, told Boston 25 News he’s never seen it rain like this before. It was seconds before streets like this one were underwater.

Cell phone video shows the intensity of the rain on the Cape. The roads were barely passable as emergency officials say they received severe storm and then tornado warnings. Chip Reilly is the Emergency Preparedness Director for Barnstable County. “Always alarming to us because a few years ago we had

Several people shared their photos showing cars and yards dealing with feet of water. “I just passed one of my neighbors who got stuck in the puddle so they are waiting for the tow truck,” a driver said. ”I was watching the water come up to the door here and of course, you couldn’t go out because with the trucks going by. The surf was a splash,” a local realtor said. “Trees down, some power outages. Sandwich right now has a power outage been in contact with Eversource,” said Reilly.

By mid-afternoon, Barnstable activated its emergency operations center. “If they need some kind of support service we’ll do that,” said Reilly. Emergency officials are asking people to look for any blockages and clear them off because so much debris was washed away.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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