Saved by the bell: Oakdale woman receives weather alert just before tornado sends tree toppling over

OAKDALE, Pa. — The National Weather Service confirmed an EF-1 tornado touched down in Oakdale on Wednesday.

A tree came crashing down on a family’s home along Vincennes Avenue destroying their front porch and roof.

Channel 11 saw more damage nearby along Third Street. A tree and wires fell on a woman’s driveway. She said she was driving home when she got an alert on her phone. She said she was fortunate she didn’t get hurt.

“I flew home, and I just got under the carport and in my house when the tree came down and the wires. Two minutes earlier, it would have landed on my car, and I would have been under all of that,” said Pamela Henke. “It was really scary how quickly it happened.”

North Fayette Township was also hit hard by the storm.

A huge tree toppled over, just missing an elderly couple’s home along Whittengale Road.

The couple said they went into their basement after getting a tornado warning on their phone and TV. Then minutes later, they heard a loud noise.

“When I first looked out, all I saw was the big stump and I thought, ‘Oh that is huge,’” said homeowner Libby Hallum.

Luckily, only a few branches landed on their roof.

“The rain was horrible. I heard one loud noise and I think it was this branch up here and then I thought, ‘Oh, there goes the roof,’” said Hallum.

“This is terrible. You’re never expecting anything to happen to us,” said Murph Hallum.

On the same street, Channel 11 saw more trees down, some knocked over power lines causing several homes to be without power.

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