Tornado confirmed in Wilkes-Barre storm, National Weather Service says
The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado touched down in Wilkes-Barre.
The National Weather Service has confirmed that a tornado touched down in Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday. It has yet to give the twister a rating.
The Weather Channel reported that despite multiple collapsed buildings, flipped cars and downed trees and power lines, only six people were injured in the storm. Red Cross spokesman Dave Skutnik said on Twitter that the injuries weren't serious, but called the damage in the Luzerne County township "horrific."
A shopping center appeared to have sustained the greatest damage, according to local newspaper, the Times Leader. Photos from local news stations show both internal and external damage to the center. Other photos of the area show flipped vehicles and debris-strewn yards.
Bruno Isles, an employee at the Panera in a hard-hit shopping center, told The Times Leader that the cafe "had tables and chairs flying through the windows."
Wilkes- Barre Township police shared an aerial video to their facebook page showing damage. In the video, which was originally posted by Access Aerial, damaged buildings, flipped trucks and heaps of debris can be spotted.
PPL Electric Utilities provides power for the area. As of early Thursday afternoon, their live outage map showed that about 1,000 customers around Wilkes-Barre were without power.