SHAMOKIN DAM - Some severe weather pounded the Shamokin Dam area Thursday, ripping trees out of the ground and even destroying what some in Snyder County consider to be a priceless landmark.
Piece by piece, people in Snyder County are picking up what storms and heavy winds ripped apart. Neighbors along Macintosh Street in Shamokin Dam said the storms hit suddenly.
"I heard something pounding against the windows and I thought it was my bird feeders but it was hail evidently, and then the rain came and just poured and poured and poured," said Sally Coup of Shamokin Dam.
Just up the hill, a landmark in Shamokin Dam didn't fare as well. The Orchard Hills Cemetery's flagpole that stands more than 30 feet tall crashed to the ground in the storms.
Janet Troutman's daughter owns Orchard Hills Cemetery.
"All of a sudden you couldn`t see, the wind and the hail, I could have taken a shovel and made homemade ice cream with the hail that was out on the porch," said Troutman.
Troutman said this flag has stood tall in the veterans section of the cemetery for decades and can be seen from just about anywhere in nearby Sunbury. She said it's a priceless piece of the community.
"It is, something is missing, something is missing when you drive on through. Look there`s no flag it`s gone," said Troutman.
Insurance won`t cover the nearly $4,000 dollar price tag to replace this landmark in Shamokin Dam, but the cemetery said they still want to find a way to repair the damage.
"It probably won`t happen, but I wish it could be a community flag and a community pole because I actually don`t know how we`re going to replace it," said Troutman.
A few miles away, neighbors work to clear trees off their homes and out of the roads. Brad Miller works for the Borough of Shamokin Dam.
"There`s a lot of trees down in the back almost looked like a tornado just ripped through this little alley back here," said Miller.
Although there's plenty to clean up, neighbors are thankful for what they've still got.
"Well i`m just thankful that no body got hurt," said Romaine Scholl of Shamokin Dam.
The National Weather Service said no confirmed tornadoes hit the Shamokin Dam area, but straight winds at up to 70 miles per hour did rip through the area.