by justin strawser
POINT TOWNSHIP - Families continued the clean-up process Tuesday, a day after 110 mph winds from an EF-1 tornado caused extensive damage to homes and properties north of Northumberland.
"All our neighbors and friends came over today to cut up all the wood and clean up the debris," Judy Kohl, of 1612 Susquehanna Trail (Route 147), said Tuesday morning.
At noon, at least 15 people, including her husband John Kohl, were busy cutting trees and loading the debris to be hauled away. Her husband had been at it from the time of the storm Monday up until 3 a.m. Tuesday, and resumed once friends and family started arriving at 8 a.m.
The majority of the damage for the Kohls, who live on the east side of Route 147, involved landscaping and collapsed trees, but they also own a garage, truck, horse barn and motor home that were heavily damaged. The right side of their house was also hit hard.
"I feel fine. I didn't lose anything that can't be replaced," she said.
Darkness descends
At 5:30 p.m. Monday, Kohl said she was home watching the Weather Channel because of the impending storm.
"I saw darkness descend upon the house," she described.
By the time she and her grandson decided to retreat inside a closet, the darkness passed and the damage was done.
"It was a horrific noise for five seconds, then dead silence," she said.
Across the road on the river side of the highway at 1597 Susquehanna Trail, David Englehardt, 55, was busy as well cleaning up his back yard, where several sheds were obliterated, but he was worried.
"I don't know if the house will be safe to live in ever again," he said, noting cracks in the stone foundation and the fact that the house seems to be leaning. "It's a lot more damage than what you think."
Dog survives
Englehardt, who has lived on the six-acre property his entire life and resides with his grandson and mother, said he witnessed the funnel touch down across the Susquehanna River near Winfield, jump across the water and head toward his property. He quickly ran inside to take cover with his mother - his grandson wasn't home - but by the time he bolted the door shut, a piece of lumber destroyed it.
"I heard all the trees whipping and cracking and snapping," he said.
His children, as well as their significant others, assisted him Tuesday in the cleanup.
He lost one kitten, but his beagle, Sebastian, and doghouse survived the storm despite being in the middle of the otherwise hard hit backyard.
A tree, planted more than seven decades prior by his father and grandfather, stood tall against Mother Nature, but nearly everything else in his backyard did not. Englehardt pointed out numerous pieces of heavy farming equipment that were far from their original locations.
Block smashes window
A cinder block from one of his collapsed sheds actually smashed the window out of a car across the road at 1594 Susquehanna Trail, said Wendy Derk, daughter of the older couple who lives there.
The house was relatively untouched, but the property experienced landscaping damage, including collapsed trees.
"It's surreal," said Derk. "I never thought I'd see it in this area. I was told it was too hilly. Someone lied to me."
Surprisingly, at 1619 Susquehanna Trail, directly next to Englehardt's property, the house was spared any damage.
"I'm feeling lucky," admitted Shirley Herman, who lives there with her husband, Larry. "It could have been worse. I was getting ready, but it was over."
While she didn't hear or see the twister, she described the atmosphere as black and the rain so thick she could barely see out her windows.
"I can't believe what it can do," she said.
Emergency response
Point Township Police Department Patrolman Nathan Fisher was first on scene Monday evening.
"It was the craziest thing I'd ever seen. I could hardly see because of the rain and I couldn't get over to the other side (because of a tree across the road)," he said.
While the rain poured, he attempted to reach the damaged properties to make sure no one was injured, and slipped in the mud. When he finally saw the carnage, the first thing he thought was "tornado."
He later rode in a state police helicopter over at least three miles of damage from the township's western border with Union County at the river to Montour Ridge.
"It's easier to see from up there. It's the same kind of damage. It wasn't a straight shot. It was kind of sporadic," he said.
Northumberland County Public Safety Director Steve Reiner confirmed there were no injuries, reiterating from Monday's same report, but he was aware of eight properties that experienced moderate to severe structural damage, with two homes among them rendered uninhabitable.
Reiner, who has been acting director since April 19, said he didn't expect this kind of weather phenomenon, especially in such a short amount of time on the job.
"It's been a crazy spring so far, not just locally, but statewide and nationally as well," he said.
He praised the community and county resources, such as the Sunbury chapter of the American Red Cross, for joining together to assist each other for the common good. Anyone who wants to help can contact the local chapter at 286-4411.
Reiner said his conversation with homeowners indicated they have insurance and will likely be covered.
"It's too early as far as estimated damage costs. We don't know that yet," he said.
Furthermore, he said, the 30 plus people who were without power Monday have been restored. POINT TOWNSHIP - The National Weather Service rated the tornado that touched down Monday at 5:35 p.m. as an EF-1, meaning its winds were estimated at 86 to 110 mph.
The tornado touched down near Winfield in Union County, and traveled east across the Susquehanna River into Northumberland County where it lifted near Route 147 around 5:40 p.m.
The confirmed tornado was the 11th in Northumberland County since 1953, and the first since Sept. 4, 2001, when what was then considered a F-1, with estimated winds of 80 mph, harmlessly spun two miles northwest of Montandon.
Three other counties in east-central Pennsylvania - Carbon, Juniata and Schuylkill - had confirmed tornadoes Monday as severe storms boiled up on a warm and muggy spring afternoon.
Point Township, just north of Northumberland, was not included in the tornado warning issued at 5:15 p.m. The warning - the most serious designation in the weather alert system - instead was issued for areas just south, including northeastern Juniata, Snyder and southwestern Northumberland counties, and described a storm cell moving west to east. Folks in Herndon and points south took heed, worried a twister was headed across the Susquehanna River from Snyder County.
Instead, the worst of the storm struck about 15 miles north of Herndon. The Point Township area was under a severe thunderstorm warning.
NWS Meteorologist Barry Lambert did not have radar data for this storm readily available Tuesday, but said it was possible the tornado could have formed in a adjacent cell to the one with the tornado warning.
"A lot of times a tornado can ride just outside of the (warning) boxes," Lambert said. "When we are putting the warnings out, we like to hit the meat of the storm."
Lambert said tornado warnings are typically issued when radar has indicated a "hook," which indicates a possible tornado, or when a tornado is spotted by observers on the ground.
Lambert said meteorologists may also issue special weather statements to heighten public awareness that a storm has the potential to produce a tornado when radar indicates rotation in the storm, but doesn't clearly define a hook.
"Studies show us that radars showing strong rotation don't mean there's a tornado," he said. "Only 50 percent of rotating mesocyclones (a region of rotating air within a thunderstorm) produce tornadoes."
A warning is an indication that a hazardous weather event is occurring, is imminent, or has a very high probability of occurring; a watch is issued when the risk of a hazardous weather or hydrologic event has increased significantly, but its occurrence, location, and or timing is still uncertain.
5 'warnings' issued
On Monday, a total of five tornado warnings were issued involving Carbon, Dauphin, Huntington, Juniata, Mercer, Mifflin, Northumberland and Schuylkill counties.
Confirmed touchdowns included:
- EF-2 (111-135 mph) at 5:20 p.m. near Kellerville, Juniata County.
- EF-1 (86-110 mph) at 6:35 p.m. in Walker Township, a mile south of Brockton, Schuylkill County.
- EF-0 (65-85 mph) at 7:25 p.m. in Franklin Township, Carbon County.
The EF - or Enhanced Fujita - scale was implemented in 2007, replacing the Fugita scale with more distinct levels of damage assessment.
Lambert said survey teams look for a converging pattern of debris when determining if damage is caused by a tornado or simply high winds.