In the midst of heavy thunderstorms Wednesday night and Thursday morning, did a tornado touched down in Dalmatia?
Joe Ceru, forecaster for the National Weather Service office in State College, said investigators are still trying to determine whether or not a twister touched down there early Thursday morning.
"Right now, it looks like thunderstorm wind damage," Ceru said. "We are still conducting storm damage surveys, so we can't confirm a tornado, but it's still under investigation."
Officials said four confirmed tornadoes touched down in their coverage area, two in Lebanon County, one in Huntington County and one in York.
The storms trapped a mother and her adult daughter, Judith Strohecker and Brenda Dane, inside their
mobile home as three pine trees, each having a diameter 2 1/2 feet at their base, came through the kitchen and living areas.
As a result of heavy rains that accompanied the same storm system, small creeks, streams and even the Susquehanna River came over their banks with minor to moderate flooding through the area.
On its website, Northumberland County EMA lists six roads closed as of 6 p.m. Friday:
- Boyer Hill Road and Hallowing Run Road in Lower Augusta Township.
- Boyer Hill Road and Shoch Road in Upper Augusta Township.
- Creek Hill Road and Herndon Bypass Road in Jackson Township.
- Intersections of Route 61 and Schoolhouse Road, with Irish Valley Road, Shamokin Township.
- The Water Street underpass in Northumberland.
Ceru said as far as the Susquehanna River is concerned, the worst is about over.
"What we are seeing right now is that the river appears to have crested in the area, and should go down below flood stage by today," the forecaster said.
As of 5:45 p.m. Friday, the Susquehanna River at Bloomsburg was just above moderate flood stage at 22.14 feet, slightly below its crest of 22.22 feet reached at 2 p.m.
Moderate flooding means a number of homes located between the fairgrounds and the river are affected by high water. Several buildings at the Bloomsburg Airport are also affected.
Minor flooding was reported in Sunbury and Danville. In Sunbury, the river crested at 25.57 feet at 9:45 a.m. Friday and had dropped to 25.24 feet eight hours later.
At that level, areas not protected by the levee and flood wall are affected.
Danville's station data reported the river cresting at 4:41 p.m. at 22.41 feet, well above the flood stage of 20 feet. At that point, basements flood in homes along Mahoning Creek on the right bank of the river.
According to National Weather Service predictions, all three stations should see waters recede to below flood stage at about noon today.