Delaware County Neighborhood Ripped Apart By Storm
By David Spunt
CHESTER HEIGHTS, Pa. (CBS) -- The storm Tuesday night only took a few seconds to destroy most of a Delaware County neighborhood.
Gordon MacDonald, of Chester Heights, says, "It lasted about 20 minutes, and when it came you could hear everything hit the roof. I went down the basement with my granddaughter."
MacDonald lives next door to a home that was damaged in Chester Heights. He rushed over after he heard a tree not only fall, but split his neighbor's home in half.
Neighbors say the tree was at least 200-years-old.
Neighbor Jim Patselas tells Eyewitness News crews rescued his friend and he is now at a local hospital.
Patselas says, "We tried, but we couldn't get him out without chainsaws."
He adds, "We'll see what happens, but as long as he is okay."
Dozens of trees are down in Delaware County, including some on Valleybrook Road where traffic continued to move.
And on U.S. 1 on City Avenue, winds caused a traffic light to snap in half, much like the tree in Chester Heights.
Eyewitness News has learned emergency crews are responding all night to any problems. Right now, the concern is the trees that didn't collapse, but still could with just a simple gust of wind.