Tornadoes move through Pittsburgh area, damaging several homes
FAIRHAVEN, W. Va. (KDKA) -- Several homes were damaged overnight after tornadoes moved through the Pittsburgh area, hitting western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and the West Virginia panhandle.
An EF-1 tornado touched down near Findlay Township and an EF-1 tornado hit Ligonier. Across the border, the National Weather Service said there was an EF-2 tornado that impacted Irondale, Ohio, into Fairhaven, West Virginia and Beaver County.
Severe storms rolled through the area beginning around 1 a.m., prompting several tornado warnings. Westmoreland County's warning came a little later, around 3 a.m.
In the area of Shepherds Valley Road in Fairhaven, West Virginia, at least three homes were damaged. Significant damage was also found nearby along International Road where a house had part of its roof ripped off during the storm.
Ring camera catches tornado in Allegheny County
A doorbell camera captured the moments a tornado moved through Findlay Township, Allegheny County.
The tornado did quite a bit of damage in the area. A tree was ripped out of the ground. Duquesne Light was in the area Wednesday evening trying to restore power after a pole and lines were knocked down.
Just over the hill in Oakdale, one family was in the basement, but they caught the funnel cloud on their Ring doorbell camera.
"I pulled it up on my phone and we were watching and I didn't see anything at first and then we saw the funnel start to form. It was loud, like it sounded like thunder and you could hear the wind and the rain," Kaitlin Deboth said.
The storm tore a metal piece off Park West Supply's roof. It was strewn all across I-376. Duquesne Light said they found pieces all the way up to Robinson Town Centre. The only saving grace is this happened in the middle of the night when there was hardly any traffic on 376.
EF-1 tornado hits Ligonier
An EF-1 tornado with winds between 95 to 100 mph hit Ligonier, Westmoreland County, ripping dozens of trees from the ground. The National Weather Service said it traveled about 1.2 miles.
The KDKA Drone Team flew over the area of McCurdy Trail near Berkley Road in Ligonier. The drone video shows a line of trees lying flat in a wooded area, across roadways and yards.
The day has been a whirlwind for Troy Wilson. What was once a towering tree almost struck his truck and house on McCurdy Trail. Many trees that came down were blocking roads and crews were using chainsaws to remove the trees.
Troy Wilson was inside the home that was nearly hit.
"About 3:15 this morning I heard what sounded like a freight train coming towards our house," Wilson said. "I knew what it was and when I heard it, I knew we had to get to cover and get to the basement quickly. So, it was definitely a little scary at first."
He has a background in meteorology and has storm chased before. But he never thought he'd experience a tornado outside his home.
"Took several meteorology courses, including a course in radar, so being able to see that firsthand, a little too firsthand, but it was exciting being able to experience that and put those skills to use," Wilson said.
"I was just surprised, like not totally surprised because I figured it was a tornado, but just seeing it get light out and seeing all that devastation was just pretty incredible," Wilson added.
On the bright side, the EF-1 tornado touched down in a rural area.
"It is very fortunate and even for the few homes that are here, it does appear that the damage was fairly minimal outside of obviously the trees," said Alicia Miller with the National Weather Service.
Fairhaven, West Virginia, cleans up damage
The tornado in Fairhaven, West Virginia, came with a quick warning. Neighbors described the sound like a freight train.
"About one o'clock in the morning, we got an alert on our phone and about three minutes later the tornado hit," Fairhaven resident Joanna Plunkett said.
Plunkett lives in a mobile home next door to a now mangled barn. She said she hid in the bathroom when it hit.
"It did pick us up and move us," said Plunkett. "It was the most frightening thing I'd ever lived through."
The strong whirlwind only slid her home, but it flipped another neighbor's mobile home over and ripped a towing company beside her apart.
Further down the road, the tornado cleared trees and it spiraled the roof off a home, wiping out three more barns with it. Tim Dunleby was checking on his neighbors, finding everyone's accounted for so far. One person was taken to the hospital with cuts and bruises after her windows shattered.
"Thank God. Look at it. I mean you can see right where it came through too. Hit and miss, hit and miss," said Dunleby.
In the dark of the morning, this twister catapulted a mobile home into the water.
"Mobile homes, they didn't stand a chance," Fairhaven resident William Hart said. "(The tornado) blew my mother-in-law's trailer off the blocks. Blew this one off the block. Destroyed that one down there."
John Hart said he got a warning on his phone and wedged himself between a stone wall in his basement. He says his damage was minor compared to his neighbor, whose mobile home flipped into the creek.
"This is her whole life. She didn't have much and it's gone. It's all gone," John Hart said.
New Cumberland fire, EMS, power companies and neighbors battled to clear roads from toppled trees. The Red Cross was at the scene, assessing the damage to figure out how to best help the community.
The National Weather Service said it's the first tornado to touch down in Hancock County on record since 1950.
Dangers of tornadoes at night
According to the Weather Channel, a recent study found nighttime tornadoes are more than twice as likely to be deadly.
Tim Solobay, chief of the Canonsburg Volunteer Fire Department, described the unique dangers at night.
"You can't see what's coming and once you start hearing it, it may be a little too late to get anywhere safe," he said.
Experts said you should have more than one way to get a tornado alert.
