'Never Seen Anything Like This': Clean Up Continues In Delaware County After Powerful Tornado Rips Through Area
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. (CBS) -- Hard-hit Delaware County is still cleaning up the mess and assessing the damage after a powerful tornado ripped through the area on Halloween. The 4-H Club at Garrett-Williamson in Newtown Square was in the path of the tornado's destruction.
A dairy pen has been blown to pieces, the barn is missing siding and part of the roof was ripped off.
"I've been here for about 15 years. I've never seen anything like this," Garrett-Williamson Executive Director Carol Kaplam said.
None of the 20 horses, sheep and other animals on the farm were hurt but they are now without shelter.
Plus, several hundred school-aged children who visit the farm to volunteer are not allowed on the property until the mess is cleaned up.
"The young people who serve the campus can't access it because of debris fields," Timothy Boyce, from Delaware County Emergency Services, said.
Boyce went on to say that the tornado's devastation is widespread, from dozens of downed trees in Thornbury, to destroyed homes in Glen Mills.
"The county is still doing damage assessment, trying to figure out what we've lost," he said.
Pennsylvania has seen more than two dozen tornadoes this year, which is unusually high but could become the new norm.
"We do expect due to climate change, due to societal growth to push us into a more disaster-prone society," Dr. Stephen Strader, assistant professor of geography at Villanova University, said.
The 4-H club in Newtown Square does have insurance and is hoping to rebuild but they are accepting donations as well.