LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — Severe storms swept through the area on Thursday, toppling trees and knocking out power in Luzerne County.
Heavy rain, wind, and hail left a mess for many communities, including Nanticoke.
The greens at the Irem Temple Golf Course in Dallas Township are empty after severe storms ripped through the area Thursday night.
"Chaotic, nasty, it's unreal what Mother Nature can do here. It's unbelievable," said Carl Stanton, a member of the grounds crew.
A sign on Golf Club Road read "closed" as crews worked to remove trees and repair power lines.
Hazards of a different sort kept grounds crew members busy on the course. Stanton says in his 12 years of working here, he's only seen the course in this shape once before.
"Hopefully, we get most all of it today, get the power back on, hopefully, today, but there's still cleanup. It's stuff that's going to take a while to clean," Stanton said.
In Nanticoke, cleanup was just as busy. It was a similar sight with road closures and repair crews.
The Greater Nanticoke Area School District held virtual classes due to power outages.
Jamie Jacobs says she watched the storm roll in from her porch with her kids.
'It was very windy, very windy. There was hail coming down. We had about, I'd say, nickel-size hail coming down."
Just down the street from her home, the group watched as a tree came down.
"All of a sudden, we're standing there, and it came down on the power lines, and there was some sort of small explosion, and that was the end of it," Jacobs said.
The Luzerne County Fairgrounds, where the county fair is being held, was also hit hard.
“There was broken tents, there was product everywhere, materials everywhere, probably 33-plus vendors destroyed, just devastation. I can’t even explain it," said Brenda Pugh, chair of the Luzerne County Fair.
Pugh says it was all hands on deck to get the fairgrounds cleaned up.
"We started right after the storms ended about 8:30. It was insane what we went through, and we probably finished about 2:30."
The power wasn't restored until 1 p.m. Friday, just hours before opening.
Some of the vendors who had their stands destroyed could not return.
Jeffrey Smith with the Harveys Lake Lions Club says they are lucky their drink stand wasn't damaged but says for any stand, one day without the business is a hit.
"We make a good amount here. We probably make $1,500, so that’s probably $600, $700 for us, maybe, yeah, because of a hot day, that’s a big deal."
The staff and vendors at the Luzerne County Fair are no stranger to weather throwing a wrench into their days of fun, and they always find a way to bounce back.
"To see this whole thing stand back up again for a second time in less than 24 hours is amazing. The spirit of this fair, the spirit of our volunteers, the community organizations is second to none," Pugh said.
The Luzerne County Fair is open until 11:30 p.m. Friday. If you can't make it out, there's still the rest of the weekend.
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