"The Morning Call Inc., Copyright 2002"
Date: SUNDAY, August 3, 1986
STORMS SWAMP LEHIGH VALLEY
1.28 INCHES OF RAIN FALLS; 7,000 LOSE ELECTRICITY
by SCOTT J. HIGHAM, The Morning Call
Two powerful thunderstorms packing heavy rains and hail the size of golf balls ripped through the Lehigh Valley late yesterday afternoon and early evening, sparking fires, knocking out electricity, stranding motorists, downing trees and causing scores of accidents on roadways in several counties.
''We've got an entire county in a state of emergency, practically,'' said a Lehigh County communications dispatcher during the first of thestorms.
While no other major injuries were reported yesterday, for roughly six hours - as lightning touched off fires, high winds uprooted trees, falling branches felled power lines and heavy rains flooded streets - dispatchers in communications centers throughout the Valley were swamped with calls for assistance.
''The communications center was going crazy,'' said Jerry Duckett, director of Lehigh County Civil Defense. The county was one of the hardest hit in the Valley, according to officials, who reported no injuries from the storm.
When the thunder and lightning had ended, 7,000 homes and businesses were without electricity, and the Valley was soaked with 1.28 inches of rain. More rain and thunderstorms are forecast for today.
The first powerful thunderstorm hit at about 1:45 p.m. And just as residents were recovering from floods and minor fires and power outages from that storm, another front swept through the area at 5:51 p.m., according to the National Weather Service at the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton Airport.
Charles Giannetta, a meteorologist for the weather service, said the storm carried winds as high as 24 mph.
''We had a lot of trees uprooted, tearing down power lines,'' said Bert Daday, a spokesman for Pennsylvania Power & Light Co. ''At the peak of this thing, we had 7,000 customers interrupted.''
The power losses were ''scattered all over,'' he said, and as of 9 p.m. 3,500 customers were still without electricity. ''We're going to be working throughout the night,'' he said.
The storm also knocked out a transmitter, forcing WLEV-FM off the air from about 3:20 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. The Lehigh County Communications Center's transmissions were interrupted during the storm, but were restored with backup systems, Duckett said.
Also during the first storm, several cars were caught beneath the S. 8th Street underpass in Allentown, which was temporarily transformed into a small pond, said Claude Kohl Jr., deputy chief of the Allentown Fire Department. ''The water was up and some people tried to drive through. Cars aren't boats,'' he said, although some were ''almost to the point of floating.''
At the King George Inn, Hamilton and Cedar Crest boulevards, rising water nearly spilled over a retaining wall designed to shield the restaurant from floods. ''The water was coming over in waves,'' said Cliff McDermott, owner of the inn, which has been plagued by flood waters. ''It's getting to the point where I can't relax when I hear thunder and lightning.''
At Hess's South on Lehigh Street, where storms and flooding have become synonymous, a LANTA bus stalled in about five feet of water as it attempted to leave the shopping center. ''There were also a couple of cars trapped,'' said Jack Kelly, chief of the Western Salisbury Fire Department, which helped the passengers from the bus and cars. He did not know how many passengers were aboard the bus. Salisbury Township was hit harder than most areas, according to officials.
Just before the Hess's flood, the fire department was dispatched to the Lehigh Valley Hospital Center, which was struck by lightning at about 2:45, touching off the hospital's fire alarms. While the lightning didn't trigger a fire, it did interrupt the hospital's electricity, forcing the center to draw on backup sources of power, Kelly said.
Lightning also struck the chimney of a three-story home at 320 S. 13th St. in Easton at about 4:15 p.m., triggering a fire that caused minor damage to the roof and cracked the chimney of the home, owned by Anthony Tumminello. No one was injured in the fire, which city firefighters extinguished in about 10 minutes.
Authorities said the storm alsoset off burglar alarms and knocked down power lines and trees throughout Easton.
Trees did not fare well yesterday. Countless reports crackled over police radios requesting chain saws to cut apart limbs that had crashed onto streets in several counties. In Emmaus, one of the harder hit communities, a 50-foot maple was struck by lightning, shearing off its top, which scraped the air conditioner of a nearby home. ''I'm just thankful it didn't hit the house,'' said Linda Bergstresser, who lives near Brunner Road in Emmaus.
Lightning struck two other trees in Emmaus, causing them to fall onto Route 29, taking with them the power lines that run alongside the two-lane highway. The highway was closed for roughly 4 1/2 hours until 7 p.m., when PP&L crews had completed cutting up the trees and removing the downed power lines between Beck Bros. and the Trivet Restaurant, said Ira Shade, assistant chief of the Old Zionsville Fire Department.
Bethlehem was apparently spared the worst consequences of the storm's force. While the area was hit hard by rain, little damage was reported. Police received several reports of fallen tree branches and power lines as well as power outages, but reported no major weather-related incidents.
At the westernmost fringe of the Lehigh Valley near Reading, several motorists lost control of their cars as hail the size of golf balls and heavy rains pounded the area, police said. The car of one woman, Suzanne Rutkowski, 24, spun around three times in the middle of Route 222 before landing in a corn field, according to police at Topton. Another driver lost control as his car was pelted with hail, police said.
Hail up to 1.5 inches in diameter was reported in Lehigh, Northampton and Berks counties, according to weather officials.
|
"WEATHER BY GIANNETTA"