Tornado Topples Trees, Damages Homes

A tornado did quite a bit of damage in one part of our area early Wednesday morning.

The National Weather Service said it confirmed an EF-0 tornado had maximum winds of 80 mph when it touched down in New Tripoli, Lehigh County around 4:00.

The twister caused damage along a three-mile path.

Several houses were damaged by fallen trees and the metal roofs of two barns were blown off.

No injuries were reported, but dozens of trees were uprooted or sheared off, and most homes lost power as toppling trees took power lines with them.

Residents in the area were hard at work trying to clear away the downed trees and debris.

In one instance, a large tree fell across the roof of a ranch house in the 7700 block of Sechler Road, near Ulrich Mill Road, in Lynn Township.

Many other trees were also knocked over by the high winds or completely uprooted from the ground.

When I looked out at 4 a.m., the sky was bluish-green, said Michael Gerner. It really looked like a tornado. Winds were fierce. Never heard anything like it.

I had five trees down, a telephone pole, windshield on my Land Cruiser, said Joe Paulo.

While Met-Ed trucks worked to restore lost power, Paul Whitehouse's company was working to clear debris from damaged homes.

Trees down everywhere, uprooted, said Whitehouse. The whole roots are out and on houses everywhere. So many it's unbelievable.

But some homes were spared by the wind.

We got lucky, said Sherri Vavryshko. It just missed the house. Went right between the house and the pool, so we got lucky.

Damage was reported throughout northern Lehigh County.

We're told the owners of one damaged house aren't even home. They're returning from vacation.

As for this weekend's Car and Bike Cruise at Ontelaunee Park, we're told it will still go on. It's Sunday from 2-6pm.