SHARON HILL, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Powerful winds blew through the Philadelphia region Sunday, knocking down trees and power lines, killing at least one person, damaging businesses and parked cars.
Wind gusts were blowing up to 60 miles per hour on Sunday and through the early hours Monday morning. Many saw the damage it left behind while driving through their neighborhoods, or from their own front doors.
Kevin was one of them. He was driving home from work in Sharon Hill when he saw a gas station awning tipped over. He jumped out to take a video, which has now been shared all over social media.
“I ain't never saw nothing like that before. I can't just drive past this and just, just keep going, like I didn't just see what I just saw,” he said.
Before he drove by the gas station, Kevin said, the entire neighborhood went dark.
“I never saw a Wawa this black. It looked like a scene from this show called ‘Stranger Things.’”
In Wynnefield, a massive tree went down in a residential block, damaging at least four cars. Tykyra got out of her car to see the damage up close.
“I came to pick up a customer, for a rental replacement for their insurance, and I was not expecting this. I turned that corner and said, ‘Whoa, I hope he's not past this street.’” said Tykyra.
She said it could happen to anyone of us, and she shared this reminder:
“Make sure y'all got full coverage, because there's nothing that you can do for a natural disaster. Things like this happen all the time, unfortunately, but if you don't have that full coverage, then you're kind of SOL in the situation.”
Madison, who lives in a high rise in Old City, says a three-sided billboard she could see from her windows was ripped apart by the wind. The side that faced her building had an image of clouds on a sunny day, and it has been circulating on social media for at least a decade.
“I took a picture of it because I just do that all the time, and I thought it was cool because it was like the clouds and obviously just fog everywhere,” she said. “And then, not even two hours later, like obviously I could feel my building shaking, and it was just completely ripping away, and I just couldn't believe it.”