Tornado in Worcester

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The Committee on Disaster Studies of the National Research Council, during the spring and summer of 1953, undertook to carry on a series of exploratory field studies of disaster. Some of these studies were conducted by members of the Committee staff, some by persons retained as consultants, some by organizations under contract. These studies involved many aspects of disaster: evacuation experiences, communications, rumor, panic, rescue and rehabilitation, etc. Following the tornado which struck Worcester, Massachusetts, on June 9, 1953, several organizations sent personnel to study various phases of the disaster, particularly what happened during the rescue and rehabilitation period. The Committee itself sponsored or facili tated: a study of communications in Worcester and in Flint, Michigan (struck by another tornado the day before) by Irving Rosow, a graduate student at the Russian Research Center at Harvard; a study of the role of the Catholic Church, in Worcester and Flint, by a team from the Catholic University of America, including Carroll Brodsky, John Muldoon, and Regina Flannery Herzfeld; two studies of medical care following the disaster, one by the Massachusetts General Hospital, and the other by Jeannette Rayner of the Committee's staff; a study of the psychological and physiological effects of the stress of their tornado experience on a group of previously studied Worcester firemen and industrial employees; and a brief horseback survey by the writer aimed at identifying spatial and emotional dimensions of the disaster which would repay systematic analysis later in this or an analogous situation. Other studies made by a variety of persons and organizations are listed in the bibliography of this report.

The Committee on Disaster Studies of the National Research Council, during the spring and summer of 1953, undertook to carry on a series of exploratory field studies of disaster. Some of these studies were conducted by members of the Committee staff, some by persons retained as consultants, some by organizations under contract. These studies involved many aspects of disaster: evacuation experiences, communications, rumor, panic, rescue and rehabilitation, etc. Following the tornado which struck Worcester, Massachusetts, on June 9, 1953, several organizations sent personnel to study various phases of the disaster, particularly what happened during the rescue and rehabilitation period. The Committee itself sponsored or facili tated: a study of communications in Worcester and in Flint, Michigan (struck by another tornado the day before) by Irving Rosow, a graduate student at the Russian Research Center at Harvard; a study of the role of the Catholic Church, in Worcester and Flint, by a team from the Catholic University of America, including Carroll Brodsky, John Muldoon, and Regina Flannery Herzfeld; two studies of medical care following the disaster, one by the Massachusetts General Hospital, and the other by Jeannette Rayner of the Committee's staff; a study of the psychological and physiological effects of the stress of their tornado experience on a group of previously studied Worcester firemen and industrial employees; and a brief horseback survey by the writer aimed at identifying spatial and emotional dimensions of the disaster which would repay systematic analysis later in this or an analogous situation. Other studies made by a variety of persons and organizations are listed in the bibliography of this report.