Keith Hood was up around 3 a.m. Wednesday because a storm had knocked out his power, struggling to close a bedroom window when he heard “the train” coming.
“It scared me,” said the resident of Berkley Road in Ligonier Township. “It was loud and ferocious. We’ve lived here 27 years, and we’ve never had a storm this intense.”
It was no train, of course. The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado passed through Derry and Ligonier townships shortly after 3 a.m. Wednesday, damaging trees, while another touched down briefly in Allegheny County, tearing off the roof of an outbuilding in Findlay .
Shannon Hefferan, a meteorologist at the NWS Pittsburgh office, said the EF1 tornado in the Ligonier area generated gusts of up to 100 mph.
In Ligonier Township, the winds toppled trees along Austraw Road and McCurdy Trail, as well as on Berkley, blocking access and cutting power to homes, according to township officials.
No injuries were reported in either of the tornadoes. Crews still were assessing potential damage to homes later Wednesday in the Ligonier area.
Here is a detailed slide that covers the Westmoreland County (Ligonier, PA area) tornado early this morning. It was rated as an EF1 with peak wind gusts of 100mph. pic.twitter.com/yj0HXQvma1
— NWS Pittsburgh (@NWSPittsburgh) May 8, 2024
The tornado in Allegheny County — also rated as an EF1 — was on the ground for about two-tenths of a mile along Aten Road, west of Interstate 376 in Findlay , according to NWS meteorologist Chris Leonardi.
That tornado’s 105 mph winds blew the roof off an outbuilding and left it in pieces a quarter-mile away, he said.
Teams were traveling to other locations around the region to check on damage from the severe weather — including areas of Westmoreland County, Hancock County, W.Va., and eastern Ohio.
A number of homes were damaged and one person was injured by yet another tornado, in Fairhaven, W.Va. According to the weather service, that tornado had an EF2 rating, with sustained winds of up to 130 mph.
Hood said the wind pressure of the tornado pushed open some casement windows in his house.
“It just went nuts,” he said. “Pictures were flying off the walls.
“It was so quick. It was here and gone.”
It left in its wake damage to about two dozen trees on Hood’s property and a decorative column that was torn from his home’s exterior wall. Some trees fell onto his backyard fence.
“What broke our heart is we had one of the last remaining (American) chestnut trees,” Hood said. “It was a big, beautiful, pyramid-shaped chestnut tree, and now it’s gone.”
A large pine tree belonging to neighbor Steve Tomajko fell across the road, where it continued to rest at noon, blocking traffic.
He said Ligonier Township crews were able to clear away some other trees between his neighborhood and Route 259.
“They got it opened up so we could at least get out,” he said.
The tornado also brought down a large locust tree in Tomajko’s front yard and sheared limbs off other trees on his property.
“I heard my phone going off with an alert, and than all of a sudden it came,” he said. “I heard stuff bouncing off the roof.”
But there was no apparent damage to his home, he said.
With so many fallen trees, Hood said, “There’s a lot of work to do. My daughter is going to have firewood for five years.”
He was thankful he, his family and their pets came through unscathed.
“This is our lucky day,” he said. “We’re still alive.”
Hood and Tomajko both had backup generators to see them through until electric service was restored.
At 6 p.m. Wednesday, West Penn Power indicated fewer than 20 of its customers in Westmoreland County remained without power. It estimated power would be restored by 9 p.m.
Jeff Himler is a TribLive reporter covering Greater Latrobe, Ligonier Valley, Mt. Pleasant Area and Derry Area school districts and their communities. He also reports on transportation issues. A journalist for more than three decades, he enjoys delving into local history. He can be reached at jhimler@triblive.com.