LOWELLVILLE Many join in tornado cleanup

By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
and BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
LOWELLVILLE -- As the sun faded Monday and darkness enveloped the East Liberty Street area, residents continued cleaning up the mess from the afternoon tornado that touched down briefly.
Some folks picked up belongings blown around by high winds. Others, still expressing disbelief and more than a little relief, surveyed damage.
Police Chief William Vance said community response was wonderful -- everyone pitched in to help, including off-duty police officers and firefighters.
Lisa Rotz recalled the fear her sister-in-law, Patty Harkleroad, had experienced. Harkleroad's garage at East Liberty and Sixth streets was demolished.
Rotz, who works about 100 yards from the house and garage, said Harkleroad had just returned home and heard what sounded like a train.
Because there are train tracks just across the street, nobody thought much about it.
Ran for safety: When the high winds came, Harkleroad and several younger family members ran for a door leading to the home's basement.
Jimmy Flora saw the storm developing while taking in some fresh air in the doorway of Melillo's Tavern on East Liberty Street.
The funnel came over a hill across from the tavern and skipped around the area.
"I heard the noise first -- and when they say it sounds like a freight train, it's true. I didn't know what was going on, but I started getting hit with some hard rain and then saw the damage down the street," he said.
When Vance looked out a window at village hall Monday afternoon and saw debris being blown hundreds of feet into the air, he had no doubt about what he was looking at.
"It was jumping around. I knew it was a tornado," he said. "It was just like a swirl."
Luck was on their side.
Assessing damage: Walter Duzzny, director of the Mahoning County Emergency Management Agency, said the twister hit the ground about 2:45 p.m., causing moderate damage to about six residential structures and to Rex Machine Inc., 804 E. Liberty St.
There were no reported injuries, although one family was still looking for its cat which was missing since the storm ended.
Vance put preliminary damage estimates at $200,000, most of it on the north side of town, though there was also some damage on the south side.
Duzzny said the tornado "jumped over" Wood Street and went into western Pennsylvania. Several trees were uprooted, he said.
In Pennsylvania: Sharon Critchlow, Lawrence County emergency management director, said there were several unconfirmed sightings of a tornado in the air in the county, but no damage reported.
Bart Spagnola of Penn Power said there were scattered outages throughout the county. Lightning caused several fuses to short, leaving about 300 people without electric power in New Wilmington, West Pittsburg and Mount Jackson. Most had power restored by 6:30 p.m., he said.
In Mahoning Township, just over the Ohio line, road workers cleared away five downed trees on Graham Road, near U.S. Route 224, after the storm hit at 3 p.m., said Lou McFarland, road crew foreman.
Debris littered the roadway in the mostly wooded area and there were no homes nearby, he said.
XCONTRIBUTOR: Laure Cioffi, Vindicator New Castle Bureau.