[DiMarie]

Mark and all,
I just wanted to touch base that we are fine here. The news coverage of the torando and damage in our area has been on the media.

Tonight at supper time we had minutes to get to the basement and hunker down as the freight train sound of the tornado came through. In the aftermath, it looks like a bomb hit and exploded!

But for the luck of God, it missed us by a stones throw! Across the street 60 foot trees are snaped like matchsticks, powerlines, roofs off homes, even tractor trailers on their sides, a half mile from me.
We are at my son's until the power is back up at home as the temp dropped way down and nothing to do but sit and watch a 2" portable TV screen.

De lives in a trailer that was my Dad's, We had only a moment to get her and the cats as the car rocked back and forth, I did not think the trailer would hold up to the winds.
In the daylight I will ahve to get some pictures. I was so glad taht I did not cover the hours open at work tonight, I would have been terrified for them.

http://wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=5757455
The main roads all have trees down. South Main Rd by the highschool, the trees point east, On Route 309 the trees point west and are snaped and twisted.

The stadium seats and signs are all blown off. The kids were still in the highschool and didn't know what hit. Roffs were off the field house.

Mr,. Z's shopping center employees all teen's did not hear the warning, (as I said we had minutes)before shopping carts went flying through the air and the huge front window of the super store were ALL blown out. 5 people and the manager were hurt. All along the stores of the strip mall every window was gone, blown inward from the airpressure.
My ears were as if we were flying it was that bad.

There is several hundred feet between McDonald's and Mr. Z's parking lot, it looks like the just recently cleared area between is the path the tornado traveled. The trees across the street are the ones like match sticks.

large pine trees ( maybe a hundred or so) like the one a near by farm donated to the White House are all across the roads with wires down. Hopefully tomorrow there will be power.

I have experianced two small tornados here in the last 25 years, but nothing on this level......
If it came down our side of the road instead of across the other side our home would have devestating damage and I can bet De's trailer would not have been found intact, the winds were that fierce.

Keep you posted and maybe some pictures tomorrow.
Di

[Jomar]

wow that is scary!

My Goodness Di,
I am sorry about the rough Tornado. It sounds like something in the movies. You and you family will all be in heart and prayers for safety. Big Hugs, Roz

[beth]

Dianne,

I hope injuries are low and no fatalities. Sure glad you made it to safety. Living in the MidWest I've had plenty of experience with tornadoes, they are very scary! We must be swapping weather, you having a tornado in PA, and we just got 8-10 inches of snow dumped on us last night, with ice underneath. Everything was closed today - schools,businesses, universities, even Caterpillar told their employees to stay home. With the wind blowing the plows couldn't keep any roads open, and the wind chill was well below zero.

Of course the kids were delighted to have their first snow day of the school year!

That must have been some strange weather pattern!

[Peg24]

Dianne,

So glad your Ok!

Peggy

[DDayMBB]

Was wondering how you made out... we just had super high winds and have to call the ins. co as part of the shingles that were on the roof are now on the front lawn all-in-all in comparison to others we made out fine.

[dawn3063]

Dianne,
How Frightning!!!! I'm so glad that you and your family are safe...
((Hugs))
Dawn

What an incredible story!!! I am so glad no one was hurt and that the home is intact!! What a a miracle!!!

I'lm glad too, that you weren't at work and were able to be with your family at such a frightening time!!

So good to know you and the family are safe and well!!!

G ~

[DiMarie]

Thanks for the thoughts and wishes. I am so thankful to be safe, to have had the grandson and whole family to protect and it seems everywhere around us in in chaos is scary. Cell service was out and the tv station antena towers were downed by the winds.
We made the weather channel this morning. Talking of the Tornado that hit Mountain Top PA.

The men ran out for a generator last night. I don't think we will need it as our power has been off and on. Everytime they find a new damage to fix they turn the power off. The cable has been down too. But, will hang onto the generator as this is the third power outage this year alone.

What is worse for me, the pressure system. During the height I felt like my ears were in the plane landing...last night and today every joint, muscle throbs, my head is killing me, my hands aren't working, my vision is blurry. It hurts to just hold my head up.
I think a reaction to a rapid drop, and rise in pressure must have flared me. I hope by tomorrow everything is better.

Beth, I read all the snow you had out there, I couldn't believe it. That is normally what we would see for the start of hunting season. Instead this week was mid 60*'s and yesterday it was 70* before the storm, to day we won't make it out of 30*.

My DIL's Mom is in from near Tulsa, OK and they had 10 inches of snow, the avg. there is about 8-9 a year!

I am going off to crash with some Toradol, valium and heating pad...Be safe.
Di

12/02/2006
Tornados may have torn up Mountain Top
BY ROBERT KALINOWSKI AND NICHOLE DOBO
STAFF WRITERS

A severe storm that might have spawned tornados in Mountain Top tore through the area Friday, unleashing powerful winds that toppled trees and utility poles and caused widespread damage to homes and businesses, officials said.

Some of the damage in Wright Township might provide experts evidence they need to determine if a twister left its mark.

The windows of the Mr. Z’s store off Route 309 suddenly ruptured amid the height of the storm, injuring at least five people and causing some tense moments.

Nearby, a portion of the roof of Crestwood High School peeled up “almost like a tin can,” said Luzerne County spokeswoman Kathy Bozinski.

The front porch roof of a home at Route 309 and Rockledge Road collapsed and the garage door was blown inward.

Some trailer-style homes in the Valley Stream Mobile Home Park in neighboring Rice Township were “picked up and tossed around. Some were split apart,” but amazingly no one was hurt, Bozinski said at the county’s Emergency Management Agency office while gathering reports from devastation scenes.

“The National Weather Service told us their Doppler radar had the probability of it being a tornado,” Bozinski said. “They said indictions are strong it was a tornado.”

Prior to the brunt of the storm passing the area just before 5 p.m., Mountain Top was put under a tornado warning and residents were urged to seek shelter.

Experts from the National Weather Service will visit the county Saturday to examine the damage, Bozinski said.

By Friday night, about 16,000 PPL Utilities customers in Luzerne County were out of power, said Paul Canevari, a spokesman for PPL. It is “highly likely” that some customers will be without power until Sunday, he said.

Many UGI Utilities customers were also without power, said Joe Rymar, a spokesman for the company. Hours after outages were first reported, more than 600 customers were still without power, he said.

Power outages and roads blocked by downed trees and utility poles hampered the ability to fully assess the damage and check for possible further injuries, Bozinski said.

“Our personnel on the ground said the devastation is amazing,” Bozinski said. “Trees are scattered in every direction. Homes are off their foundations.”

Though trees and poles crashed down around the county, there were no other confirmed injuries besides those at Mr. Z’s, officials said.

There were reports of scattered trees and poles down, and minor localized street flooding, but it’s clear the areas in the higher elevations, like Mountain Top, received the brunt of the storm.

Winds reached speeds of 47 mph at the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, where meteorologists have equipment to monitor wind speeds, said Frank Strait, meteorologist with AccuWeather.com.

At that wind speed, called a strong gail, structural damage is possible, according to the National Weather Service.

Possible tornados were reported in the Wright Township and Dorrance areas, Strait said.

It typically takes a few days for the National Weather Service to determine if a tornado touched down, he said.

Officials said they would be working around the clock to check on the safety of residents, open roadways, and restore power.

The pictures enlarge if you click on them.