Weak tornado hits county
A weak tornado swept through southwestern Butler County on Thursday night, knocking down trees and washing out roads.
The National Weather Service designated the event as an EF0 tornado with wind speeds between 65 mph and 85 mph, that hit the Renfrew area.
No injuries were reported.
The strongest tornado is categorized as EF5.
The county 911 dispatch center began receiving weather-related calls at 9:25 p.m.
Steve Bicehouse, director of county emergency services, said there were a total of 21 calls to 911 regarding storm damage.
Bicehouse, who also is the chief of the Evans City Volunteer Fire Department, said most of the damage in Forward Township was fallen timber.
“You can see trees everywhere,” he said.
Bicehouse said one tree came close to falling onto a house at the corner of Route 68 and Brownsdale Road. “It definitely was a near miss,” he said.
Bicehouse said most of the trees are in yards.
“It was very localized,” he said.
Bicehouse said the damage could have been worse.
“I don’t consider six calls that busy,” he said about the number of calls to his fire department. “We had more than that in a thunderstorm.”
Some Forward Township roads were temporarily closed until trees could be cleared and power lines removed. Traffic was detoured around Prospect Road.
In Center Township, standing water on West Sunbury Road was an issue.
Chief Nathan Wulff of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Company said an SUV rolled over, landing back on its wheels, along West Sunbury Road.
Wulff said the female driver, whose name was unavailable, was walking around when crews arrived at the accident, which was reported to 911 at 10:38 p.m.
He said the woman was taken by Butler Ambulance to Butler Memorial Hospital to be evaluated.
Central Electric Cooperative peaked at 1,600 outages in the county, but power was restored this morning
Most of those outages, 1,339, were in the county. The areas hardest hit were Concord Township with 531, Oakland Township with 235 and Allegheny Township with 228.
West Penn Power reported significantly less impact with 47 outages in the county, including 20 in Butler, before power was restored.
