DERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Two tornadoes left damage throughout Westmoreland County on Saturday.
Channel 11’s Addison Albert was in Derry Township, where MCR Greenhouse’s parking was covered in cones.
The National Weather Service says a tornado travelled right over the top of the business, but somehow it remained standing.
“I lost my appetite. I mean it was right around dinner time, and I couldn’t eat; my heart was pounding. I mean literally I was just hoping for the best,” MCR Greenhouse’s owner Colin McChesney said.
McChesney was watching the radar during Saturday’s storms in Westmoreland County.
His greenhouse sits off of Red Cut Lodge Road in Derry Township. The tornado miraculously missed his family business.
“I was very lucky. Very lucky. Some trees were down on the tree line, but all the greenhouses were untouched. All of the mums I had in the parking lot were untouched too, so very lucky.
The National Weather Service confirmed an EF0 tornado came through the trees right behind McChesney’s Latrobe property.
Matthew Kramer with the National Weather Service says a second EF0 tornado went through the southern Derry Township.
“Both of them appear to be on the weaker side, somewhere around the 70 mph range based on the damage we are seeing,” Kramer said.
Crews are still cleaning up downed trees and repairing power lines, but most of the damage was from flooding.
On Green Thumb Road, PennDOT is working to repair a culvert. On Laughlin Farm Road, a bridge is closed.
“We had two and a half to three feet of water running across the road. A guy who lived there for 15 years had never seen that much water,” Derry Township Volunteer Fire Chief Mark Piantine said.
Piantine is concerned about more storms tomorrow.
“We don’t have as many resources tomorrow as we had on Saturday, so they’re going to have to go further out to get resources, and from what they’re saying, it’s supposed to hit all of Westmoreland County, so basically, you’re going to have everyone involved,” Piantine said.
McChesney said he is aware of the incoming storms and is doing everything he can to prepare.
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