FINLEYVILLE, Pa. — (WPXI) – Joyce and Gene Abel were throwing a birthday party for their 4-year-old granddaughter, Thea, on Saturday and said they didn’t see or hear it coming. “Wind started to pick up a little bit, I was leaning on the railing, that tornado appeared right there – right in front of my face,” Abel recalled. Gene was outside with his son and said the tornado was roaring and he couldn’t hear anyone yelling for him to get inside. “I literally had to hold onto that railing, it was pulling my feet out from under me,” Abel said. “It couldn’t have lasted any more than 30 seconds.” Abel says the kids made it safely into the basement just before the roof of the home was sucked up into the air. His massive, 200-year-old oak trees were twisted and snapped. Insulation and debris are now tangled in the limbs. Dead birds were found all over his front yard. You can see the path the tornado took, tearing through town from Abel’s house to Crossroads Ministries on Walter Long Road. Nearly 100 people were inside the church during Saturday evening mass when the tornado hit. The windows of the church were blown out and the glass cut a couple of people inside as it swirled in the wind. They were not seriously hurt. The Abels don’t yet know if their home is a total loss but they’re preparing to be in a hotel for the next eight months.