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Two Latest Twisters Bring Count to 4 in Central PA This Year

FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP — Folks living in the Montoursville area said it will take months, maybe longer to clean up and repair the damage the twister left behi...
tornado

FAIRFIELD TOWNSHIP -- Folks living in the Montoursville area said it will take months, maybe longer to clean up and repair the damage the twister left behind.

According to the National Weather Service, a tornado touched down Thursday night, snapping and uprooting trees, damaging properties, and downing utility lines and poles.

"We were quite surprised by the devastation right in our backyard," said Melissa Rogers of Fairfield Township. She and her family spent all day Friday clearing large trees from their property.

Next-door-neighbor, Ray Marshalek's property was damaged by the tornado, too, as was his son's nearby fruit orchard.

"You can fix a building, okay, takes some time, takes some money. That out there, you're talking years to get the trees replanted, back up to production and how much do you lose?" he asked.

Meteorlogists from the National Weather Service at State College said there was a tornado in Selinsgrove Thursday night, too.

That brings the count to four tornadoes this year in Central Pennsylvania.

The first was June 8 in Gowen City, Northumberland County. The second was June 30 in the Riverside area of Northumberland County.
Then Thursday night, July 9, twisters in Selinsgrove and the Montoursville area.

"I don't know. I think it's freaky. You know my nephew got caught in Katrina, which was a hurricane, moved to Tennessee. He has a storm shelter and we've got nothing and we're getting the tornadoes. It's kind of shocking, actually," said Mary Jane Houseknecht of Fairfield Township. Her family's barn was damaged and trees were strewn around the property, too.

Officials with the National Weather Service say this is the time of year for tornadoes: May, June, and July. They say on average, there are 22 tornadoes a year throughout the Keystone State.

"You hear that things happen like that out in the Midwest, but not necessarily in central Pennsylvania," said Rogers.

The NWS said on average, tornadoes in Pennsylvania each year happen in about 10 days.

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