TOWANDA TOWNSHIP -- Monday afternoon brought a powerful storm to part of Bradford County leaving many in the dark, and with property and vehicle damage.
“There was hail and lots of wind. I haven’t seen a good lightning storm like that in a while,” said Taran Koppenhaver of Towanda.
“It was nasty, bad. We had a lot of wind. We heard come over our phones, ‘Take shelter now!’ And we did,” said Kathy Johnson of Monroeton.
Heavy winds, rain, lightning, and hail slammed the Towanda area. Part of Route 220 was closed for hours as a tree and snapped utility pole were removed.
Some truckers were trapped on the roadway into the evening.
“It looked like I don’t know a lot of wind came through this way and there’s a trailer in there sideways, this tree obviously, power is down,” said Towanda Fire Chief Bill Roof, at the scene.
“It just came down, flooded the streets, made it this far then the tree came down. I have nowhere to go, can’t turn around,” said trucker Todd Rennie of Ohio.
Nearby, a roof was blown to bits, and vehicles big and small were dinged by hail. In some cases, windshields and sunroofs smashed out.
“I looked out my front door and my whole driveway was flooded out and I came out afterwards and my windshield in my car is all broke,” said Edith Keeney of Towanda Township.
Cleanup will take longer than the storm lasted.
One homeowner says he has an estimated $100,000 worth of damage.
“This is all material, as long as everyone is safe and sound, that’s all that matters. As you can see now, they’re having fun and that’s all that matters,” said Kenney.
