WILKES-BARRE TOWNSHIP, Pa. — June 13, 2018, is a date many will remember as the night an EF-2 tornado ripped through the major shopping area in Wilkes-Barre Township.
"It was a shock, and to think it's been five years later, time has flown by," said David Prohaska, a paramedic with Trans-Med Ambulance. "To see the parking lot strewn with shopping carts, telephone poles, cinder blocks, and all of the materials from the buildings, that hit home that it was likely a tornado. That was the first thing out of my mouth to the other crew with me."
Prohaska was off duty that night but came in to help. After arriving at the Arena Hub Plaza, his crew was flagged down by employees at Dick's Sporting Goods, concerned that other employees could be in danger.
"They directed us to the back of the building. The whole building was destroyed, but out back, there were shipping containers that people were working in with overstock and were unaccounted for," he recalled.
Those employees were found to have only minor injuries.
The tornado struck around 10 p.m. Winds up to 135 miles an hour tore through nearly two dozen businesses.
To this day, first responders say the timing of the tornado was a miracle since the Arena Hub Shopping Plaza is busy with shoppers during the day.
"The timing is what we would call lucky because everyone keeps saying if it was an hour or two earlier, there would have been many, many more injuries if not deaths," Prohaska added.
The tornado did about $18 million in damage to businesses in the Mundy Street area of Wilkes-Barre Township.