Rescue teams are hard at work in Massachusetts Thursday, after two tornadoes ripped through the state killing at least four people. The rare twisters also left more than 50,000 people without electricity.

Gov. Deval Patrick has declared a state of emergency, calling up a thousand National Guard troops.

"Preliminarily, we have confirmed reports of four fatalities -- two in Westfield, one in Brimfield, and one in West Springfield -- and an unknown number of injuries," he said.

The funnel clouds touched down east of Springfield and damaged more than a dozen Massachusetts communities. They clipped trees, ripped roof tops, and even toppled the steeple at the First Congregational Church.

 "I just went down into the cellar and just sat there and prayed," one storm survivor said.

Winds overturned a tractor-trailer on the Memorial Bridge. The wild weather also left many people trapped in their cars, surrounded by downed power lines.

"You could see the trees flying over the cars, flying onto the cars hitting the cars. It was surreal to be honest. You couldn't believe that it was happening," one resident said.  
    
Massachusetts gets an average of two tornados a year. Still, Wednesday's twisters took many by surprise since the state hasn't seen a deadly tornado since 1995.

"I was thinking what they were saying last week: it was the end of the world. I said it didn't come last week, but it came now," another resident said.

Meanwhile, more severe weather is being forecast for parts of the East Coast on Thursday.