First tornado in Greene County in nearly three decades damages home
Wooden boards were catapulted through a vehicle’s windshield along Hoy Hill Road in Wayne Township after a tornado touched town Tuesday afternoon.
A woman and her children escaped injury Tuesday afternoon when a tornado damaged their Wayne Township home.
Heavy winds toppled a tree near Big Shannon Run Road in Perry Township where severe storms hit Tuesday afternoon in Greene County and caused a tornado to develop near Pine Bank.
A woman and her children escaped injury Tuesday afternoon when a tornado – the first one to touch down in Greene County in nearly three decades – damaged their Wayne Township home.
A meteorologist from National Weather Service in Pittsburgh visited several sites Wednesday in southern Greene County and found evidence of a tornado at Hoy Hill and King Sister Hill roads near Pine Bank.
The tornado struck at 4:23 p.m. and knocked over trees and damaged a home’s roof, meteorologist Matthew Kramar said. The weather service labeled it an EF-1 tornado – the weakest level with winds estimated at 105 mph – that traveled about 1.5 miles.
It’s only the sixth tornado in the county since 1950, and the first since July 1, 1990, Kramar said.
“It’s a rural county, so things may have happened where we didn’t hear about,” Kramar said. “But as far as official ones that hit something, it’s rare.”
Rich Policz, operations and training officer for Greene County Emergency Management, accompanied meteorologist Fred McMullen and Wayne Township supervisors to the site. They found numerous trees toppled and severe damage to the house on Hoy Hill Road. He said parts of the roof and deck were ripped off, and wooden boards were catapulted through a vehicle’s windshield.
A woman and her children sheltered in their home and were unharmed, Policz said.
“It was a pretty traumatic experience for them,” Policz said. “It was windy and the kids said it sounded like a train coming over the hill.”
Investigators also found wind damage nearby on Bull Dog Run Road in Wayne Township and along Big Shannon Run Road in Perry Township, where there were toppled trees and debris scattered across the road.
National Weather Service issued two tornado warnings Tuesday afternoon in southern Greene County.