GREENSBURG — Officials say a possible tornado Wednesday destroyed about 30 homes and damaged 60 more in Westmoreland County.

County emergency management officials there said the storm ripped roofs off houses and uprooted trees but resulted in only minor injuries.

Residents in Hempfield Township about 25 miles east of Pittsburgh reported seeing a funnel cloud as the storm bore down on them. The National Weather Service will be there today to determine if a tornado did touch down.

The weather service says the storm also spawned rain and hail as big as 2 inches in diameter.

The Hempfield School District is closed today as officials assess the damage to the high school’s roof.

Some of the homes in Hempfield and Sewickley townships were demolished when the storm hit about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Dan Stevens, Westmoreland County deputy emergency management coordinator, said, “I have homes that have siding torn off and homes that are destroyed.

“On the good side, I have no fatalities. I have less than five minor injuries — cuts, scrapes and bruises.”

Roofs were ripped off buildings at Hempfield High School and an elementary school, and several businesses had damage, Stevens said. Students were moved to the basement of the high school during the storm.

After checking the homes for injured residents, township crews were out clearing roads of fallen trees and wires, Stevens said.

Energy company Duquesne Light said the storm knocked out service to about 1,700 customers, but most had power back within four hours.

The American Red Cross Westmoreland-Chestnut Ridge chapter opened a shelter at a municipal building. Volunteers were staffing the shelter, and businesses were donating food.

The National Weather Service, which had posted a tornado warning just before the storm, planned to send observers out today to confirm that a tornado touched down, said meteorologist Rich Kane, who’s in charge of its Pittsburgh office.

Several residents reported taking cell phone or camcorder video of a funnel cloud, and Stevens said officials are working on the assumption that it touched down but that remained to be confirmed.

As many as 27,000 West Penn Power customers lost service during the storm, but by this morning only about 7,000 remained without power.

Allegheny Power also reported about 7,000 customers are without electricity following the storm.

Resident Greg Kurtiak said he was in his detached garage with his daughter when hail began to fall. When he saw a funnel cloud above a ridge, he grabbed her and headed into the house, where they huddled near their brick fireplace.

“It sounded like a freight train,” Kurtiak said of the winds that demolished his garage and uprooted a tree in the front yard and sent it crashing into the roof of the house.

Elsewhere in the state, schools opened late today across much of northeastern Pennsylvania after a half-foot or more of snow fell in an early-spring storm.

The National Weather Service says snow totals of 8 to 9 inches were reported in the Pocono Mountains.