MAHONING, SHENANGO VALLEYS Cleanup continues as more storms hit

East Palestine's sewage plant is operating safely, though not at full capacity.
STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
As the Mahoning and Shenango valleys continued the cleanup from weekend storms, swift-moving thunderstorms swept across Pennsylvania on Tuesday, pelting some areas with quarter-sized hail and spawning possible tornadoes.
The worst damage was reported in Crawford County, where a dairy farm, a warehouse and a pipe factory were damaged by heavy winds.
Officials were evaluating whether the damage was caused by tornadoes, said Stephen Watt, director of emergency services for Crawford County.
In Greenwood Township, heavy winds peeled steel siding and insulation off buildings at a mile-long PPG plant, leveled a garage and stacked up tractor-trailers that were inside, Watts said.
The storms also pulled aluminum siding off buildings at the nearby J & amp;M Manufacturing plant, and four homes were damaged by falling trees, Watts said.
No serious injuries
Workers at both plants were able to find shelter before the storms hit, Watts said. There were no reports of serious injuries.
Meanwhile, Cochranton Fire Chief Scott Schell said he saw two tornadoes in Fairfield Township. The high winds destroyed grain bins and a large building, and plucked shingles from the roof of a dairy barn, Schell said.
The storms also toppled trees and power lines, but damage was otherwise limited in the largely rural area, Schell said. There were no reports of injuries.
The National Weather Service reported that a spotter saw a funnel cloud a little farther east, in Kersey, Elk County, where trees were felled. Authorities said they couldn't confirm any damage.
Other scattered thunderstorms dumped hail as large as quarters across Allegheny, Indiana, Venango and Westmoreland counties.
In Lawrence County
Commissioners in Lawrence County officially declared a state of disaster because of heavy rainstorms.
The declaration will enable communities to have an easier time getting federal and state aid to clean up damage caused by heaving rain and flooding. Commissioners passed the resolution at their Tuesday meeting.
Most of the damage occurred Saturday morning in the southern end of the county in Enon Valley and Little Beaver Township.
Residents along Freed Camp Road and in the Freed Trailer Park had to be rescued by firefighters in boats. Enon Valley and Little Beaver Township officials also have declared disasters in their communities.
Pennsylvania Emergency Management officials were in the county this week to assess the damage.
Meanwhile, East Palestine's sewage treatment plant, damaged by the weekend storms, is operating safely, although not at full capacity, city Manager Gary Clark said.
Flooding after thunderstorms Saturday caused around $2 million to $3 million in damage to the plant, Clark said Tuesday.
He said the disinfectant equipment and sludge presses were damaged, so repairs are needed soon. Workers can treat sewage but not process it entirely through the system, he said.
How it happened
Clark said the treatment plant was flooded when water found its way behind retaining walls and pushed sheets of metal together, forming a dam.
Tracy Drake, Columbiana County Port Authority director, said floodwaters also washed out gravel and eroded embankments in several areas along the Central Columbiana and Pennsylvania Railway.
Workers had to replace gravel beds and repair embankments, but trains continued to run, he said.
The port authority owns the railway used to haul construction and demolition debris from New York and New Jersey to landfills designed for that purpose in Columbiana County.
The railway runs from Youngstown through Mahoning and Columbiana counties and into Darlington in Beaver County, Pa.