NWS Confirms tornado in Harrisburg neighborhood
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Asia Tabb
Airdate: August 21, 2024
An EF1 tornado hit a Dauphin County neighborhood on Friday August 9. The National Weather Service says the winds were up to 110 miles an hour in the Bellevue Park Neighborhood.
Bellevue Park is located within the city limits of the City of Harrisburg. Dennis Kauffman, President of the Bellevue Park Association Board says his dog alarmed him of the severe weather.
“My dog’s afraid of thunder. So, he woke me up and we went down to the basement. So, you can’t see or hear it as well. So, I didn’t even know about it till I started receiving emails from my neighbors, “said Kauffman.
Dan Diebler, Architectural historian, was in bed when he heard the weather.
“I heard this incredible noise, which, I just identified as wind, which was an unusual sound, but I didn’t think anything other than that. And I know I got up and sort of looked out the window and suddenly saw. All this tree debris in my yard just everywhere. It was the most I think I’ve ever seen, “said Diebler.
Kauffman spoke with other neighbors in the Bellevue Park community where he learned of the damage done to their properties.
“I just went out and looked around and was stunned. By all the, visible tree damage that. Fortunately. Fortunately, our house was not damaged in any way. Except with a gutter was dented by a falling limb, but that’s pretty minor. But. You. I was just when you looked out over the landscape, there were all these our neighbors who have a very open yard. Their yard was covered with huge trees that had fallen around them. And again, they were not. Your house was not hit. Their yard was covered. Debris. And the roads were filled with debris that the city had already started clearing, “said Kauffman.
The neighborhood association is currently working with the City of Harrisburg to clean up the community.
“The city has been very helpful. They’ve been very responsive to helping us get our, neighborhood cleaned up. People have been able to just take the phone lines and such to the curb, and they come by and pick them up. They’ve been helping us with our reservations, cleaning up the debris from there. The fire company was very helpful as well, “said Kauffman.
