REBERSBURG -- A tornado hit part of central Pennsylvania on Monday. That's the official word from the National Weather Service.
Colleen Barry was sitting outside her home in Rebersburg watching the thunderstorm when suddenly the winds increased dramatically, toppling her 100-year-old barn.
“It did a complete tumble and I stood in the corner of my porch there and thought, 'I'm going to die. This is it. This is it,'” said Barry. “And it literally dropped in like one second.”
The NWS confirms an EF-1 tornado touched down in that part of Centre County, causing damage to more than two dozen properties.
“Our window above the door, it blew open and next thing we know, we just heard sounds like a freight train and just pops and cracks,” said Lisa Dix.
“We have been busy since approximately 6:30 last evening,” said Chief Eric Miller with the Miles Township Volunteer Fire Company. “It started with trees down on houses, multiple power lines down throughout town. Then a call for a man trapped in a shed that collapsed.”
That man, 65-year-old John Weaver, is recovering at Geisinger Medical Center near Danville and was the only reported injury from the storm.
The Centre County Emergency Management director says 19,000 homes and businesses lost power county-wide, and a day after the storm, many are still on generator support.
“Still off,” said Fred Ironside. “But we have a new motorhome, so we're kind of living out of both, generator and propane refrigerator.”
The county emergency management director says he expects it will be a few days before power is restored county-wide.
