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Tornado traveled mile plus across Cranberry

CRANBERRY TWP — Some township residents spent Sunday cleaning up the debris following Saturday’s low-grade tornado that rolled through the township just after 5 p.m.

There were no injuries reported.

The tornado, classified as an EF0 by the National Weather Service, touched ground in the area of Chaparral Drive at 5:06 p.m. Saturday and continued north toward North Boundary Park Drive.

It had a maximum width of 300 yards and traveled for about 1.5 miles at speeds 60 to 70 mph, according to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.

Officials reported more than a dozen trees were uprooted in its path.

Jeff Schueler, director of public safety for the township, said he spoke to several residents in the aftermath of the twister.

“One resident told me it started in one direction and then changed direction. He said it kept changing directions,” Schueler said.

The tornado — accompanied by dark clouds, high winds and a steady downpour — caused primarily minor damage from uprooted and downed trees and downed power lines.

Butler County Emergency Services director Steve Bicehouse said 911 dispatchers handled 100 storm-related calls starting at 5 p.m. Saturday. He said the calls varied from downed wires and trees to flooded roads.

“From what I can tell, it looks like (the call-outs) touched every (fire) department in the county,” Bicehouse said.

One home on Rowan Road was hit by a tree and suffered heavier damage. Fortunately, no one was home at the house owned by Ernie Kuhs.

Kuhs and friends cut free the top half of the tree, which fell into the backyard. After that, the bottom half that was still partially rooted stood back up.

Fire officials said Kuhs’ house was the only one substantially damaged by the tornado.

Fire Chief Todd Rice of the Cranberry Township Volunteer Fire Company said numerous trees and three to four power lines were downed by the tornado. Rice said volunteer firefighters and other emergency workers had most of the damage cleared by just after 7 p.m.

On Chaparral Drive, where the tornado first touched down, a tree measuring more than 50 feet tall fell on Tom Huffman’s driveway.

In northern Butler County, power also went out for about 1,200 customers of Central Electric Cooperative on Saturday. Hardest hit were the East Brady and Moniteau School areas, he said.

West Penn Power reported about 2,000 customers in the Butler County area were affected by the storm.

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