NWS to survey damage from tornado in Butler County’s Center Township
The National Weather Service is expected to survey a portion of Center Township Thursday, May 22, after confirming late Wednesday via a video that the storm was a tornado.
The roof of a township-owned salt shed, located in the area of the Unionville Volunteer Fire Company, was blown off in the heavy winds around 4:40 p.m. Wednesday. A portion of Butler County was under a tornado warning at that time.
By watching a video from the Unionville Volunteer Fire Company on Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service of Pittsburgh was able to identify the storm as a tornado, but a meteorologist said an official survey would be conducted Thursday to learn more about the storm.
Meteorologist Colton Milcarek anticipated a four- to six-hour survey of the area to determine the tornado’s strength, length and intensity. This is expected to begin Thursday morning with more information available by the end of business day.
A Wednesday evening Facebook post from the Unionville Volunteer Fire Company estimates the submitted video was taken at about 4:37 p.m.
“We had some powerful weather move through Unionville this evening,” the post said. “Strong winds blew the roof off of Center Twp's salt shed which is located directly behind our station. This is some footage from our CCTV cameras. Another video and a picture of the aftermath is in the comments.”
In the comments, the NWS of Pittsburgh asks about the video.
“Is there an address and approximate time for this?” the comment said.
Nathan Wulff from the Unionville Volunteer Fire Company said earlier in the evening the damage was isolated. Slight damage to another township-owned building nearby was the only other storm damage around they’ve seen.
Another video on Facebook showed Claytonia Road in Clay Township was completely flooded around 5:30 p.m., with water reaching up to trees in residents’ yards. Fire stations responded to various other incidents of flooding and downed trees.
