Tornado confirmed in New Kensington as heavy storms ravage region

Apr. 8--The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado touched down in New Kensington early Wednesday, ripping roofs from a church and other buildings there, and heavy winds caused damage and power outages across the region.

The storm destroyed hangars at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity, brought down numerous trees and power lines and left more than 40,000 people without power.

Wind gusts of about 75 mph were recorded at Pittsburgh International Airport shortly after 1 a.m., according to the National Weather Service. It was the strongest wind measurement ever recorded at the airport, the weather service said.

National Weather Service radar showed that a tornado touched down in New Kensington around 1:10 a.m., according to meteorologist Lee Hendricks.

The tornado was later confirmed based on radar data, meteorologist Jason Frazier said. A meteorologist was headed to the area in the afternoon to conduct a survey to determine details such as its intensity, timing and track.

Hendricks initially said a survey team was unlikely to go to the area because of coronavirus-related restrictions on field work, but the agency said later in the morning that it would send a crew to the New Kensington and Tarentum area later Wednesday.

"We got some clarification on what we can and can't do, said Matthew Kramar, the meteorologist who will lead the effort. "As long as we're maintaining proper distance and trying to minimize human contact, when a survey is necessary we can still do it."

No injuries were reported from the storm, according to Westmoreland County 911, which noted several major incidents. The worst damage occurred between 2 and 3 a.m.

--Two hangars and an airplane were destroyed by high winds at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport. Another airplane was damaged.

--The roof was blown off St. Mary of Czestochowa church on Kenneth Avenue in New Kensington.

--The roof blew off at GTS Services construction company on Constitution Boulevard in New Kensington.

--Trees fell on two houses on Clark Hollow Road in Ligonier.

There were many reports of downed trees and power lines. Westmoreland County 911 received 142 storm-related 911 calls from 26 municipalities, according to Emergency Management Director Roland "Bud" Mertz.

Hendricks urged residents to exercise caution when dealing with debris.

New Kensington pastor: 'This is so heartbreaking'

The roof was blown off St. Mary of Czestochowa onto New Kensington's Kenneth Avenue in New Kensington. St. Mary is under one pastor, Monsignor Michael Begolly, with the nearby St. Joseph and Mount St. Peter.

"This is so heartbreaking for our parishioners, especially the older ones who have so much of their history connected with this church building," Begolly said.

The cornerstone of the Polish church dates to 1911. Its congregation has about 600 families.

"We're in the process of assessing the damage and getting the mess cleaned up and having the professionals come in to inspect the damage to see where we need to move forward," Begolly said. "I'm convinced that our parish will rally and the people of New Kensington come together to support us as we move forward. At this point the only thing we need are prayers."

Monica Taylor lives across from St. Mary on Ridge Avenue. She said her house was shaking when the storm came through.

"It was real scary," she said, pausing from picking up shingles from her home's roof that landed in her yard. "The house felt like it was about to come up off the ground."

Taylor said this was the first time she's ever seen a tornado. She said she saw it travel down Kenneth Avenue past the church.

"The sky is actually pretty in a tornado," she said. "It's actually quite mesmerizing."

The roof of a building housing a new Voodoo Brewery on Fifth Avenue also was blown off, and a building window was broken, owner Mike Malcanas said.

Malcanas said the brewery had been close to opening when businesses deemed nonessential were ordered to shut down because of the covid-19 pandemic.

He said there was damage inside from water getting in during the storm. The full extent, or how long it will take to fix, was not immediately clear. Crews were working on the roof Wednesday morning.

Mayor Tom Guzzo said damage in the city was widespread.

"There will have to be significant reconstruction (at the church). My heart goes out to the parishoners," said Mayor Tom Guzzo. "Other areas were hit hard also in downtown , Parnassus and Valley Heights. Trees and wires are down in many places and many neighborhoods are without power."

Guzzo said city firefighters, police and other first responders had been out since about 1 a.m.

"They have done and continue to do such an outstanding job. They are simply amazing. As I surveyed all of the damage throughout our entire town, I am thankful that nobody was seriously hurt or worse," Guzzo said.

Airport damage

Members of the Chestnut Ridge Flying Club bought a 1976 Cessna 172 eight months ago and stored it at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport, said group secretary Rick Indovina. On Wednesday morning, he and a few other club members took photos of their totaled aircraft and hangar from the side of Route 981 in Unity.

"It's just tough," he said. "We put a lot of money into it, a lot of upgrades."

Indovina said the club, which has about 15 members, has insurance on both the four-seater plane and the hangar. He valued the plane at about $65,000.

"The plane was actually out in the road this morning," he said.

Club members take turns flying the aircraft. They are all part-owners.

"We fly all year round, but this is the time now, springtime, we fly a lot," Indovina said.

The wreckage sat just inside a fence on airport property Wednesday morning. Neighbor Renee Stallings said the storm awoke her family and they checked outside.

"We looked out there and said 'oh my gosh,'" she said. "We've lived here for over 20 years and it's just the first time anything like that has happened."

Airport personnel and first responders came to check on them. Stallings said she was glad no one was hurt.

"Things like that are replaceable," she said.

The Chestnut Ridge hangar and airplane were swept about 50 feet, Westmoreland County Airport Authority Director Gabe Monzo said. A second hangar, owned by the authority, was destroyed when it was lifted off another airplane, leaving that aircraft with minor damage, he said. Crews will clean up the wreckage.

The airport remains open, but commercial flights through Spirit Airlines were slated to stop Wednesday. That will remain in effect until at least May 4 as a result of reduced travel because of the coronavirus pandemic. The airport remains open for private aviation and charter service.

Near miss

Jessica and Randy Baker, of Ligonier, were in their bedroom on Clark Hollow Road when a tree crashed through their ceiling.

"We heard the whole house shake, and then the tree just fell through into our bedroom, like three feet above us," Jessica Baker said. "We just thank God that we're safe, and that this is all replaceable."

Clark Hollow Road, Country Club Road and Darlington Road are closed because of fallen trees and wires, according to Ligonier Township Supervisor John Beaufort.

Power is out in most of the town, and officials don't know when it will be restored, township Manager Terry Carcella said.

Power outages

More than 25,000 Duquesne Light customers remained without power Wednesday afternoon, a decrease from the 30,000 plus reported earlier in the day.

There were almost 3,000 outages in Sewickley and about 2,000 each in Glassport, Center Township, downtown Pittsburgh, Crescent Township and Robinson Township. By 1:30 p.m., Sewickley's numbers had decreased to about 2,500, Glassport to zero, Center Township to about 1,600, downtown Pittsburgh to about 1,800, Crescent Township to about 1,700 and Robinson Township to about 1,200.

More than 35,000 West Penn Power customers were without power at the peak of the outage. Around 1:45 p.m, roughly 5,600 Westmoreland County customers remained without power, a decrease from the more than 9,000 reported as of 11 a.m., according to data provided by West Penn Power. Ligonier Township, Ligonier Borough and Rostraver were reported to be among the hardest-hit communities.

Repair efforts could continue into Thursday, West Penn Power spokesman Todd Meyers said.

"The guys were out working all night, the tree crews were out removing trees for lines making it safe for the linemen to go out and do their work," he said. "We'll be working until everybody is back on."

He cautioned residents to keep social distancing in mind to keep tree crews and line workers safe from coronavirus.

Duquesne Light was not able to provide an estimate for when power would be restored.

"Crews will continue to work around the clock under covid-19 protection protocol to restore power to all affected customers," the company said in a statement.

Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jacob at 724-836-6646, [email protected] or via Twitter .

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