May 18, 2024 3:34 am
ELRAMA, Pa. — (WPXI)-Residents in Elrama, Washington County are picking up the pieces after the National Weather Service confirmed a tornado blew through their community Friday afternoon. “It was loud, it was fast, and it was gone,” said homeowner Deb Evans. She saw the tornado in the Circle Avenue area around 3 p.m. Friday. “It was very dark and it was circular. You could see the trees circling a little bit,” said Deb Evans. “I was looking for my puppy because he’s small. I thought I was in Kansas, like where’s my dog, I’ve got to find my puppy,” said Deb’s mother-in-law, Dee Evans. Dee was sitting out back when the swirling winds picked up her three patio umbrellas, snapping one in half, collapsing another, and blowing the third away. “I was sitting on my patio and then all of a sudden my umbrellas started lifting and I actually held on to one and it started to pick me up so I let go. My husband saw it fly past the window,” Dee said. Right next door to Dee’s house, an above-ground pool crumpled. Just down the street, massive tree limbs plummeted to the ground, taking power lines down with them. “It got very dark, wind started to pick up, rain sideways, wind blowing, debris flying past the windows, then all of a sudden, the tree fell down, sparks, just littered the whole neighborhood and then it was gone,” Deb Evans said. Lori Shoemaker was not home when the tornado hit, but she found out her porch was damaged and her yard was a mess from a call from her neighbor. “She was like, ‘Your grill is laying in your yard, your chairs are down on the road,’ she said her husband was picking up my chairs, there were garbage cans all over my yard,” Shoemaker said. Residents are a little shaken, but grateful the outcome wasn’t much worse. “Thankfully everyone’s fine. It just took out the trees and the wires and everything but all the people and houses are okay. A few shingles here and there,” Dee Evans said. The National Weather Service still needs to complete an official survey to determine the strength of the tornado.
May 18, 2024 1:43 am
(WPXI) – The National Weather Service has confirmed three tornado touchdowns in our area. One was reported in Harrison City, Westmoreland County, one in Elrama in Washington County and one on Washington Boulevard near the Highland Park Bridge, near Aspinwall. A funnel cloud was reported in South Strabane Township but forecasters say it did not touch ground. As of Friday evening, there were no reports of any serious injuries but damages were reported throughout the area. Several tornado warnings along with flash flood warnings were issued Friday afternoon as well. It has been a very active weather month for Pittsburgh. Pennsylvania has seen six tornadoes so far this year. In NWS Pittsburgh’s coverage area, which includes parts of Ohio and West Virginia, there have been nine in May.
May 17, 2024 5:13 am
HOUSTON (AP) — Severe thunderstorms have hit southeastern Texas for the second time this month, and Houston’s mayor says at least four people are dead. There have also been windows blown out of high-rise buildings, downed trees and power outages for more than 900,000 customers. Flights were briefly grounded at Houston’s two major airports Thursday. The storm system moved through swiftly, but flood watches and warnings remained for Houston and areas to the east. Heavy storms slammed the region during the first week of May, leading to numerous high-water rescues, including some from the rooftops of flooded homes.
May 17, 2024 5:12 am
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trucks carrying badly needed aid for the Gaza Strip have rolled across a newly built U.S. floating pier into the besieged enclave for the first time. The shipment Friday is the first in an operation that American military officials anticipate could scale up to 150 truckloads a day entering the Gaza Strip as Israel presses in on the southern city of Rafah as its 7-month offensive against Hamas rages on. But the U.S. and aid groups also warn the pier project is not considered a substitute for land deliveries that could allow in all the food, water and fuel needed in Gaza. Before the war, more than 500 truckloads entered Gaza on an average day. Israeli restrictions on border crossings and heavy fighting hinder food and other supplies reaching people there.
May 17, 2024 5:11 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s lawyers have sought to portray the star prosecution witness in his hush money trial as a serial fabulist who is bent on seeing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee behind bars. During hours of cross-examination Thursday, defense attorney Todd Blanche pressed former Trump attorney Michael Cohen for hours with questions that focused as much on his misdeeds as on the case’s specific allegations. The defense is trying to sow doubt in jurors’ minds about Cohen’s crucial testimony implicating the former president. Whether the defense is successful in undermining Cohen’s testimony could determine Trump’s fate. Trump has denied any wrongdoing.
May 17, 2024 5:09 am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian authorities say a massive Ukrainian drone attack on Crimea has caused power cutoffs in the city of Sevastopol and set a refinery ablaze in southern Russia. Friday’s drone raids marked Kyiv’s attempt to strike back during Russia’s offensive in northeastern Ukraine. The offensive has added to the pressure on outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces who are waiting for delayed deliveries of crucial weapons and ammunition from Western partners. The Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses downed 51 Ukrainian drones over Crimea, another 44 over the Krasnodar region and six over the Belgorod region. It said Russian warplanes and patrol boats also destroyed six sea drones in the Black Sea.
May 17, 2024 5:08 am
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has fired suspected short-range ballistic missiles off its east coast a day after South Korea and the U.S. flew powerful fighter jets in a drill that the North views as a major security threat. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff says the launches were made from the North’s east coast on Friday afternoon. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary said a North Korean missile landed outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff statement called the launches “a clear provocation” that threatens peace on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea in recent months has extended its weapons testing as part of its efforts to enlarge and modernize its military capabilities while diplomacy with the United States and South Korea remains stalled.
May 17, 2024 4:59 am
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A coal miner has died while working at a southern West Virginia mine. Gov. Jim Justice says Virgil Paynter was operating an excavator Thursday at the CM Energy Operations LP surface mine in Wyoming County. A statement from the governor’s office says Paynter was “fatally injured” but did not include details. The death is being investigated by the state Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training and the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration. It was the first reported coal fatality of the year in West Virginia and the second nationally. There were nine coal-related deaths in the country last year.
May 17, 2024 4:57 am
CARROLL TOWNSHIP, Pa. — (WPXI) – A motorcyclist was hurt in a crash in Washington County on Thursday night. The crash happened around 9:30 p.m. on Dry Run Road, near Ridge Road in Carroll Township, a 911 supervisor confirms. No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
May 17, 2024 4:55 am
The Trinity Area School District approved a preliminary budget on Thursday. The spending plan for the 2024-2025 school year is a balanced $75,138,319. Taylor Hott, Director of Fiscal Services for Trinity Area School District says that there will be a 1 mill increase in taxes this year. The millage rate will increase to 16.21 mills from the current 15.21 mills. That means that homeowners will pay an additional $100 per year per $100,000 dollars of assessed value on their homes. Hott did say that this number could change between now and next month when the budget is formally adopted. He called this a bare bones budget, but analysis is still being performed from daily outlays to staffing to find savings. He states that there are no intentions to cut items of need and there are no extravagant equipment purchases in the budget. The formal budget will be approved in June.
