Strong winds that moved through our region Monday night into Tuesday morning left damage across parts of Berks and Lancaster counties. By sunrise Tuesday, the damage was easier to see.
In Brecknock Township, Lancaster County, only a pile of debris was left of a barn after the storm tore through the area.
Assistant Fire Chief Jared Artus with the Fivepointville Fire Co. said the damage shows just how strong the winds were.
“We definitely had a weather event of some sort. Basically, a lot of damage in our area,” Artus said.
Officials said the township’s emergency management team is continuing to investigate the storm damage and report its findings to the state.
“The [emergency management agency] manager for our area, for Brecknock Township, is continually doing an investigation and submitting that to the state to do further investigations, just to confirm that it was a straight-line wind event. As far as we know, that’s exactly what happened,” Artus said.
In Union Township, Berks County, several roads had to close because of trees and wires down, including Morgantown Road, Chestnut Hill Road and Rock Hollow Road.
Emergency crews said they were dealing with multiple calls overnight, especially in the Boyertown area.
Sal DiPippa, the EMA coordinator with the Earl Township Fire Co., said the storm created dangerous conditions for crews.
“Last night was pretty trying. We had a bunch of trees down across the road. We did have a live wire down at a house with active fire…until they shut the power off, we couldn’t do anything,” DiPippa said.
In Colebrookdale Township, Jeff Stapleton said the storm caught him by surprise. He said the power went out while he was watching TV.
“It really wasn’t that bad until about 10 o’clock last night, and then all of a sudden, the wind just really picked up,” Stapleton said.