KNOXVILLE - The National Weather Service in State College, has determined this borough, sandwiched between Osceola and Westfield in Tioga County, was hammered by an F-1 tornado packing 95 mph winds early Monday morning.
According to meteorologist Paul Head, the determination was made by meteorologist in charge Bruce Budd after he visited the borough and surrounding area Tuesday.
According to Head, the evidence meteorologists look for in making their determination of whether a storm was caused by the whirling winds of a tornado, or straight line winds, or sudden downbursts from a "super cell" in a thunderstorm, include the appearance of tree damage.
"They look for what they call convergent damage," he said, and explained that means "trees all jumbled together and folded up on each other."
That determination came as no surprise to residents here, some of whom say they witnessed the funnel cloud as it blew through town around 2 a.m. Monday.
The twister cut a 2.5 mile swath as it "jumped and hopped" through Knoxville after coming off Forks Hill, off Route 249 north, said Knoxville-Deerfield Fire Chief Louis "Dutch" Bloom.
Despite the violence of the storm, there were no injuries, he added.
"I think it was because everyone was inside it, so there was no one outside to get hurt from flying tree branches and other debris that made a difference," he said.
Bloom said the twister cut a path "right through Knoxville south of Route 49, then as it got down to the middle it crossed over 49 and was on the north side."
The damage was widespread, with hundreds of trees blown down and dozens of houses and buildings damaged.
"There was a lot of roofs blown off and trees down, but no one was trapped in their homes," he added.
Power was out until 8 p.m. Monday in the borough, but some Penelec customers on Route 249 did not get their power back on until Tuesday afternoon, he said.
Bloom was grateful for the help that came from neighboring communities, including fire stations in Westfield, Osceola, Troupsburg, NY, Chatham, and Sabinsville.
About 100 volunteers came out from those fire companies, Bloom said, as well as hundreds of private citizens.
Jen Temen, of Middlebury Center, the store manager at Snowburg Welding at117 East Main Street, said she and her children were in a camper in the back yard of the business, owned by Russ Snowburg, Sunday night.
"It was raining really hard, and it sounded like rolling thunder," she said, and the lightning, she said, was "more than I've ever seen."
She said she grabbed her sleeping children and headed into the building, where she found glass all over the floor along with product that had been on display and leaves blowing up against what was left of the store's plate glass window.
"Trees were down all up and down the street," she said, adding that she was in "shock" and "panicked" with fear for her children.
Damage was evident down every street, and no one was allowed into the borough Monday unless they lived there or were coming to help, according to Brian Edgcomb, Elkland district magistrate who lives on North Water Street in Knoxville with his wife Cheryl.
"It sounded like trains coming through the house or jet planes getting ready to crash," he said when he was awakened by the violent storm.
"The lighting was severe and thunder was instantaneous, flash boom like a welder's constant light," he said. He said he and Cheryl went to a back room and stayed away from the windows for "just a few minutes, but it felt like it went on for hours."
"Then the electricity went off and I went out and the fire company and others were out looking around and it was just total destruction," he added.
When daylight came, Edgcomb said "just didn't recognize the town I was born in and grew up in."
Though he didn't sustain any damage except one maple tree that got sheared off and a few shingles off his barn, he said he was devastated by what he saw.
"My heart went out to these people," he added.
Edgcomb said he was 'so proud of the community coming together, pitching in and helping each other. It was an amazing thing to watch," he said.
He also mentioned other communities coming to their aid.
"People came in from all over with chain saws and wagons and ladders. It still looks like a war zone but it is better than it did," he said.
Another resident of North Water Street, Jeanette McHugh, who lives just up the street from Edgcomb, agreed, saying that the "fire department was great."
"We were actually lucky that it hit at night, and most people were inside, otherwise there would have been people out on the streets," she said.
Her nephew Bob Diblin, also described the noise the storm made as like a "train."
The trees around his aunt's house were snapped off and broken in half from the winds, which he said bent them at least at a 45 degree angle.
"It was like something blowing inside a big tunnel," McHugh said.
An apple tree in her back yard probably saved her house from being crushed by a neighbor's maple tree, Diblin added, catching it as it fell.
She said her niece's boyfriend, Kyle Nobles, 23, of Wellsboro, went up on the roof to try to see what damage there was but couldn't really tell because of all the branches and leaves obstructing it, but thought there might be some rafter and chimney damage.
Penelec crews were still working on restoring power to residents Tuesday, as well as other utility workers, including those from Verizon.
Edgcomb commented that workers from the wireless and wired phone company removed a pole that had snapped off on the street late Monday night, after he warned them it was going to collapse taking wires down with it.
"I could hear that pole continuing to crack. At 9:30 they rolled in and cut the tree down, stabilized the lines, got the old pole out and put the new pole in, just as quick as that, and they were gone," he said.
In other parts of the county and Lycoming County, where a storm ravaged communities along the Route 15 corridor Thursday, Tri-County Rural Electric Company crews also were continuing to restore power to about 500 members who remained without electricity following the severe thunderstorms.
High winds toppled trees and snapped off limbs onto electric lines, bringing down wires, splintering over 60 utility poles and causing widespread power outages throughout much of Tri-County's service territory beginning shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday, according to a press release issued Tuesday.
As of Tuesday afternoon, outages remained in areas served by the cooperative's Cammal substation in northern Lycoming County, and Morris and Liberty substations in the southern portion of Tioga County, but Power is expected to be restored to all members served by the Liberty and Morris substations by Thursday evening, and to all members in the Cammal/Slate Run area of Lycoming County by late Friday.
"The destruction from this storm was extensive and widespread across our service territory," said John Lykens, Tri-County's director of engineering and operations. "We are replacing over 60 poles that were broken during the course of the storm, which is by far the most pole damage we've ever experienced from one storm."
At the height of the outage, more than 7,000 cooperative members were without power.
Restoration efforts were hampered by a second thunderstorm that struck the north-western and northcentral part of Tioga County early Monday morning, May 30, knocking an additional 1,700 Tri-County members out of service. Power was expected to be restored to all of those members' in the Cowanesque Valley by this evening.
Eleven outside line crews from Claverack Rural Electric Cooperative, Valley Rural Electric Cooperative, Somerset Rural Electric Cooperative, Warren Electric Cooperative, Citizens' Electric Co., and BNF Powerline Construction, as well as seven right-of-way crews from Lewis Tree Service and Asplundh Tree Expert Co. are assisting Tri-County with its restoration efforts.
