Saturday, July 31, 2021

Storms, Tornadoes Damage Homes in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey

 Jan Wesner Childs

Published: July 30, 2021






Tornadoes and storms damaged homes, knocked out power and prompted tornado warnings across parts of several states Thursday evening, including New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and Virginia.

At least 35 homes were hit by a tornado in the High Bar Harbor section of Long Beach Island, about 75 miles southeast of Philadelpia, NJ.com reported. About 15 were reported to have sustained extensive damage. Three people were treated at the scene for injuries.

A possible tornado also struck Jefferson County, Ohio, just across the state line about 45 miles west of Pittsburgh.

"We've got multiple reports of damage and trees and power lines down," a 911 dispatcher told weather.com just after the storm moved through Thursday night.

(FORECAST: Severe Weather Recap)

In nearby Harrison County, New Athens resident John Ledger described what happened to his home at about the same time he got an alert about a tornado warning.

“As I was reading the alert on my phone, the wind kicked up and took our patio furniture up over the hill then the roof started peeling off,” Ledger told The Intelligencer newspaper.

He said they ran to the back of the house as teh roof continued to be ripped off.

“At least we’re safe and that’s what matters,” Ledger said. “The worst part is over. We have neighbors and people helping us, the fire department and everyone else. That’s what America is about."

A photo tweeted by WTOV-TV showed a home that was partially collapsed and missing its roof in the Jefferson County community of Winterville.

The National Weather Service in Mount Holly, New Jersey, warned of a particularly dangerous situation - or PDS - due to a tornado in Trenton at about 6 p.m. A PDS is typically noted in rare situations when long-lived, strong tornadoes are possible, according to the NWS.

Police there told weather.com there were no immediate reports of damage there.

North of Philadelphia, heavy damage was seen to a car dealership in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. Five injuries were reported in the area following the storms, according to the Courier Times.

Passengers and employees at Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport were told to seek shelter, stay away from windows and move to a lower floor when a tornado warning was issued there at about 5:15 p.m.

Video posted to social media showed small pieces of debris flying in front of a driver's windshield amid rain and hail around the same time in Fredericksburg, Virginia.

About 20,000 homes and businesses were without electricity in Stafford County, Virginia, as of about 6:45 p.m., according to poweroutage.us. Severe weather also moved through that area.

The storms were part of the same system that spawned high winds and tornadoes that damaged homes and caused more than 130,000 power outages overnight Wednesday and into early Thursday morning in Wisconsin and Illinois and also raked parts of southwest Michigan and northern Indiana.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.

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