WORCESTER COUNTY, Mass. - June 1 marks 11 years since a powerful tornado tore through Central and Western Massachusetts.

The EF-3 tornado killed three people and injured many more and caused over $100 million worth of damage.

Sturbridge was among one of the hardest hit towns, and police Chief Earl Dessert remembers June 1, 2011 well. 

“Well, I was a fairly newly promoted sergeant and I remember my chief calling me at the time saying ‘Hey, there’s a tornado in Springfield. Do you want me to head back?” Chief Dessert said. “I said ‘Tornado, chief? Come on, I’ve got this under control.’ He said ‘Okay, I think I’ll take a ride back anyways.’ And I was very thankful he did take a ride back.”

It proved to be an all hands on deck mission when the tornado hit. Photos of the aftermath show downed trees, signs and power lines all across town. Barbara Boiteau, a dispatcher at the time, went into work immediately when she saw the tornado warning. 

“You can always be trained for that, but when it comes to the point, you just go with it, go with the action and the flow of the calls,” Boiteau said.

Prior to the warning, there was skepticism the tornado would prove to be much of anything. 

“At the time, a lot of people did not believe it that a tornado was actually coming through the town,” said Lt. Joseph Lombardi. “I think it was in Springfield at the time, and that’s when we thought ‘Wow, this is really coming our way.’”

For the Sturbridge Police Department, the aftermath extended beyond cleanup. Scammers took advantage of the situation.

“Being in the profession as long as I have been, I wasn’t surprised there was people out there trying to make money off this tragedy, because I’ve seen it throughout my career with different tragedies,” Chief Dessert said. “It was still alarming to me that people would be out trying to take advantage of older people, trying to take money from them, offering services, asking for pay up front, not doing the services, and things like that.”

Still, the sharpest memories are ones of unity, both among residents of the town and nearby neighbors. 

“We saw an outpouring of support from our neighboring community of Southbridge, the owner of restaurants bringing in food to the public safety complex, making sure firefighters and police officers and all first responders were taken care of when it came to food and water,” Chief Dessert said. “While they were doing this for us, at the same time, we were doing it for the community.”