Buildings were left destroyed and homes were damaged Wednesday afternoonafter a tornado touched down near Stroudsburg, Pa. The twister was spawned bythe severe thunderstorms that pounded other parts of the Northeast withdamaging winds, hail and flooding downpours.
Tornado Near Stroudsburg, Pa.
Photo by Robert Wills & Kelly Sweigart/ WFMZ.com
The tornado destroyed four large farm buildings and a single-family garage.The twister also ripped the roofs off of two homes. A section of Route 191 wasclosed after downed trees, poles and power lines littered the road. Two peoplesuffered injuries. One of the injured required hospitalization.
The tornado was given the ranking of EF-2 from the Enhanced Fujita Scale oftornado intensity. The maximum wind speed within the tornado was estimated tobe 120 mph. For comparison, EF-5 tornadoes have wind speeds that exceed 200mph. The tornado remained on the ground for 5 miles, and the width of its pathmeasured 300 feet.
The same storm that spawned the tornado near Stroudsburg may have also causedanother twister to tear through the township of Wantage in northwestern NewJersey. While a tornado touchdown has yet to be confirmed, WABC-TV reports thatseveral people captured images of a funnel cloud with cell phones orcameras.
A Wantage town administrator stated that the storm demolished a number ofbarns. Trees were uprooted and hit homes. The destruction led Mayor ParkerSpace to declare a state of emergency.
Story by AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Kristina Pydynowski
