Storms wreak havoc across Mass.

Lightning, winds damage homes

Severe thunderstorms packing strong winds toppled trees and powerlines in many communities as an intense front rolled across Massachusetts Thursday.

In Springfield, lightning struck a building on the campus of American International College, with video and photos showing flames shooting through the roof.

Hubert Benitez, the president of the college, said the building that was struck was Courniotes Hall, which houses the college’s nursing program and classrooms for health sciences courses. Campus police walked through the building to make sure no one was inside at the time, he said.

“While there is significant damage to the building, AIC is committed to taking all actions necessary to ensure that we provide students with continuity in their course of studies in the fall,” Benitez said in a statement posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “AIC is known for its resilience and we will come back stronger than ever thanks to the help of our community.”

A photo of Courniotes Hall posted by Alanna Flood, a reporter at WWLP, on Friday showed significant damage to the roof and upper floor of the building.

Reports from the National Weather Service showed that while most of the weather damage occurred in the western part of the state, Boston, Quincy, and Attleboro were not spared.

In Boston, lightning struck a building on Massachusetts Avenue in the South End, which sent bricks tumbling to the sidewalk.

In Attleboro, a large tree fell on power lines on Berwick Road.

In Quincy, a fallen tree branch blocked the tracks at the North Quincy MBTA station, causing delays shortly after 6:30 p.m., according to the MBTA. By 7:23 p.m., the branch had been removed from the tracks and train service resumed.

According to the weather service, power lines were down in Charlton, and trees were down in Belchertown, Chicopee, Springfield, Palmer, and North Attleborough.

Social media posts also showed damage to a home in Franklin.

In Westfield, trees and wires were down on several streets, and a tree crashed onto a house on Broad Street, according to the National Weather Service. On Montgomery Road, the top half of a large pine tree was snapped off like a twig. A witness tweeted that the tree was between 40 and 50 feet tall and 2 to 3 feet in diameter, “just [missing] the house” on the property.