Tornado confirmed in Fayette County near Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park campground
SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. (KDKA) -- A tornado was confirmed in Fayette County near Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park campground overnight, the National Weather Service said.
It was a rough night for a lot of southwestern Pennsylvania. Severe storms swept in, knocking down trees and bringing heavy rain to many neighborhoods.
At Jellystone Park campgrounds in Fayette County, the storm brought down multiple trees and did serious damage to some camping trailers. The National Weather Service was in the area surveying the damage on Friday. They said the tornado was at least EF-2 intensity with winds greater than 110 mph.
At least five people were reportedly injured from the storm. In a statement, the campground said a small number of injuries required hospitalizations. There were no fatalities.
"I think right now we're probably looking at a fairly significant tornado that went through here overnight and surrounding that there's straight line wind damage all over the county. So we don't want to minimize that," said Evan Bookbinder, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "But there's a very intense track of damage that runs right through Mill Run here."
Bookbinder said there wasn't a lot of time to react, saying, "Five minutes later, it's in and out."
"You know, people were sleeping in the middle of the night, like I said, 2:30 to 3 a.m., and large 100- to 200-year-old strong old-growth trees just right through campers, tents. It's not a good scene," Bookbinder said.
The wind was so strong it even flipped a trailer over.
In Springfield Township along Mill Run Road, people who live there had a harrowing night. Residents say the storm was unlike anything they've ever heard or seen before.
A lot of crews were out Friday working to restore power and begin to clean up. There are trees down across several roads in the area, one of which landed on a parked car.
One family says they're lucky most of the trees around their home that fell didn't land on any of their barns or on their home.
"I was just awoken by a sound and the first thing I noticed was the flashing lights, it was like a strobe light out the window. And then I heard this sound that sounded like a freight train outside the house and I ran to the window foolishly and looked outside and I could see the trees bending clear over and the rain and the flashing strobing lights -- it was like something I've never seen before," said Christy Miner, who lives along Mill Run.
The campground said it will be closed at least through the weekend and guests with reservations will be given the option to rebook or get a refund.
"We would also like to take a moment to sincerely thank all of our on-site guests, team members and the first responders for the admirable way in which they acted during the storm and its aftermath. Your spirit and cooperation are more appreciated than you will ever know," the campground said in a statement.
Bookbinder said it's a miracle there weren't more injuries or any fatalities.
"There were hundreds of people in this campground last night. I think that estimates were on the order of 500 people with almost 200 campers," he said.
