Pennsylvania tornadoes confirmed
High winds leaves cars smashed, six injured
WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — National Weather Service officials confirmed Thursday that an EF2 tornado had touched down in Wilkes-barre, Pennsylvania, late Wednesday and a second tornado touched down in nearby Bradley County.
The National Weather Service in Binghamton, New York, sent teams Thursday to two counties in northeast Pennsylvania to determine if tornadoes were part of a severe weather system that destroyed homes, caused severe damage to one of the region’s major commercial corridors, smashed cars and left at least six people injured late Wednesday night. The team in Bradford County had not released a preliminary report saying how strong the tornado was that touched down in Franklin Township as of Thursday afternoon.
Photos and videos of the aftermath show a shopping center in Wilkes-barre about 110 miles north of Philadelphia, with roofs torn off, cars overturned and storefronts shattered. Similar photos surfaced Thursday morning from Granville, Franklin and Leroy townships about 90 miles further north of Wilkes-barre showing collapsed structures and shattered windows.
The investigators’ report from Wilkes-barre said the tornado damage was consistent with an EF2 strength tornado, meaning the average wind speed reached between 111 and
135 mph. The report said winds likely hit 130 mph as the tornado traveled about half a mile after first touching down near the Wyoming Valley Mall.
Investigators said, “structures were sheared off near their foundation” when describing the damage. Tornadoes are categorized from EF0, which are weaker with wind speeds between 65 and 85 mph, to EF5, which are considered violent with wind speeds of more than 200 mph.
In Wilkes-barre, city and county officials had closed roads around the damaged shopping centers because of downed power lines and damage to a propane cylinder that was still leaking as of midmorning Thursday.
Gov. Tom Wolf toured the damage with reporters and first-responders Thursday afternoon and briefly spoke about how fast storms like the one Wednesday night move. He said was working with county and state officials to determine if the storm would qualify for federal disaster aid.