PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A severe storm blew through the Philadelphia region Saturday afternoon, damaging homes and downing trees. Mayor Cherelle Parker signed a Declaration of Disaster Emergency Sunday in response to the aftermath.
Tyreese Niblack told our newsgathering partners at NBC10 that parts of the roof on his apartment building in West Philly blew off.
“I heard a giant boom, and I'm like, did we get hit by lightning? And then I looked out the front door and saw the roof was on top of my vehicle, and then immediately the leaking from the third floor and the second floor started to come down.”
There was a partial building collapse near 24th Street and Washington Avenue. The building is vacant. Bricks and other debris had fallen on a Jeep.
There are no reports of injuries in either incident. Dozens of residents had to be evacuated from a Philadelphia Housing Authority apartment building around 55th and Vine streets. Officials said the building suffered water damage and residents have been temporarily put in hotels and replacement units.
To report property damage, complete the city’s online damage survey at phila.gov.
Bryan Ramona/KYW Newsradio
Chad Merrill with AccuWeather said July started with more than 5 inches of rain, which could have led to some of the damage.
“So when you combine the saturated soil with that swaying motion of the wind very rapidly when the storms came through, that allowed many trees and power lines to come down,” Merrill said.
Lower Merion Township was under a state of emergency from 4:30 p.m. Saturday through 9 a.m. Sunday as downed trees and wires blocked many roads. The National Weather Service reported at least four severe microbursts (strong, straight-line winds) with wind gusts up to 70 mph. It impacted Lower Merion, West and South Philly between 2:44 p.m. and 3:15 p.m.
Township officials said as of 10:30 a.m. Sunday, at least 55 streets were still blocked or partially blocked with trees and power lines. They advise using extreme caution if you need to leave your home. Crews are out clearing the mess. If you have an emergency, call 911. Do not use the Lower Merion Police Department non-emergency number, 610-649-1000.
A flash flood warning was in effect Saturday until 6:45 p.m. After the storm cleared out, more than 38,000 power outages were reported across the region.
PECO said about 2,600 customers were still without power as of Monday morning.
