‘There was sky where the ceilings should be’: Residents recall damage left behind by EF2 tornado

By Yazmin Rodriguez

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    FINLEYVILLE, Pennsylvania (WTAE) — It’s been almost 24 hours since residents in Washington County were faced with a terrifying situation. An EF2 tornado touched down, based on a preliminary rating, causing many to shelter and wait out the damage. One of those places where people were sheltered was inside Crossroads Ministries Church in Finleyville.

“About 6:12, I think it was, and all of a sudden the lights started flickering and we were wondering, ‘What’s going on with the electricity?'” said David Shepley, who was at the church. “And then one of the windows smashed in. There was sky where there should be ceilings. So I went out and checked my car and my wife’s car, and they were both damaged.”

The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh confirmed what other damage the county sustained.

“I’ve seen roof damage to well-structured homes, lots of tree damage, one garage (where) pretty much the walls collapsed around it,” said lead meteorologist Shannon Hefferan.

Video below: Dozens inside Washington County church when tornado hit

Sunday morning, the scope of the damage became more visible. One woman told us the storm caused transformers to fall in her front yard and a tree in her backyard, which damaged her car. She tells Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 her first-hand account of the storm.

“We were just finishing up with dinner and we heard a little bit of wind and I look outside and I can see the trees going, starting to topple. You could see the rotation. I ran upstairs to get my other dog, came running down and just like that within 30 seconds to a minute it was done,” said Amanda Ewing.

Now, county officials, residents and the National Weather Service are surveying the areas and beginning clean-up efforts.

“We’re out here now trying to help people out get some tarps on some roofs, keep everybody’s watertight and right,” said Michael Inks.

“Some of this stuff is going to take a while to clean up, a couple months,” Hefferan said.

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