Volunteers help Navy vet clean up yard damaged by tornado

WEBSTER, Mass. — It's been more than a week since a tornado hit the town of Webster, but residents are still picking up the pieces.

That's why a group of volunteers with "Team Rubicon" have been out there all week, helping out residents.

The team responds to areas ravaged by major storms to help people clean up.

On Saturday, the team helped Daniel Violette, a retired Navy veteran, deal with the major tree damage in his yard caused by the tornado.

"A lot of us are veterans so this kind of scratches that itch, once we leave  this gives us the same sense of service to our community," said Scott Gobar, the Incident Commander for Team Rubicon.

Team Rubicon plans to spend the next couple of weeks in the Webster area helping those affected by the tornado. Surrounding towns and cities such as Dudley were also badly hit by the storm.

Violette said that, after the tornado, when he first asked for a quote to clean up tree damage, it would have cost him $10,000. Thankfully, Team Rubicon was there to help him for free.

"I've been in hurricanes and I've never seen wind like I did," said Violette.

During the storm, Violette grabbed his wife and ran to the basement, where they took shelter as strong winds tore down dozens of trees around his home.

"I could hear them falling, it looked like somebody dropped a bomb in my backyard," said Violette.

More than 20 trees were down across his backyard in all different directions. Violette says he couldn't even open his back door, so many trees barricaded the back of his house - and one even shattered a window.

"You know, when this happened it was overwhelming, you don't know what to do," said Violette.

When Violette saw volunteers with Team Rubicon, he quickly asked them for help.

The team has the tools and resources necessary to help pick up after major storms like this one. When they found out Violette was a Navy vet, they were even more eager to help since most of their volunteers are veterans themselves.

Overcome with emotion, Violette says he'll be forever grateful to those volunteers who made such a big difference for him and so many of his neighbors.

"I can't thank them enough," said Violette.

Cox Media Group