CRANBERRY TWP — A powerful storm system moved through Southern Butler County Saturday afternoon, spawning a tornado that briefly touched down in a housing plan near Chaparral Drive, according to a National Weather Service press release.

At about 5 p.m., a tornado warning was issued for Cranberry Township and the southern portion of the county. According to the press release, the tornado hit somewhere near Chaparral Drive and then moved northward before lifting somewhere near North Boundary Road. The tornado touched down about 5:06 p.m. and the NWS report said it was at maximum 300 yards wide and traveled 1.5 miles.

No one was injured and damage consisted primarily of downed and uprooted trees, downed power lines and wires.

Todd Rice, fire chief for the township Volunteer Fire Company, said one home on Rowan Road was hit by a massive tree. No one was home at the time of the incident, Rice added.

The home that was damaged is owned by Ernie Kuhz.

“I was at Costco at the time and some neighbors called me and said I should come back,” Kuhz said.

After the storm had passed, Kuhz and friends worked to cut free the top half of the tree, which fell into the backyard. After that, the bottom half that was still partially rooted stood itself back up.

The roof of the home sustained damage measuring an area of about 16 feet by 20 feet.

Another tree fell on top of electrical lines going to the property’s garage, leaving the garage without power.

Neighbors also had trees and branches lying in their yards.

Kuhz said this wasn’t the first time his home was damaged by trees. About 10 years ago, his front porch was destroyed.

“We got off easy this time,” he said.

Kuhz said was going to put the house on the market for sale this week. However, now he says he’ll have to wait.

However, he remained optimistic about the situation.

“No one was hurt, so that’s a good thing,” he said. “It can be fixed.”

Emergency crews in Cranberry Township and other surrounding communities were active into the night managing flooded roads in Middlesex Township and cleaning up from the storm in various locations around Cranberry Township.

An Adams Township police official said the storm only left rain in Adams Township and didn’t do any unusual damage.

The storm warning caused employees at the Rose E. Schneider Family YMCA to instruct gym goers to stop their workouts and retreat from all window and glass areas at about 5 p.m.

Dark clouds and heavy rains blanketed the township for at least 30 to 45 minutes.