Look out below!

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Residents were caught in the wrath of an angry Mother Nature as one of the surliest and most dangerous storms of the year struck the city last Thursday. Between 3 and 4 p.m. everyone was doing all that they could to avoid the ferocious path of a very powerful thunderstorm that swept through the area. Although it moved quickly, that did not stop it from wreaking havoc on anything in its path and leaving behind a trail of destruction and debris.

Trees all over the city fell, crushing cars, homes and telephone wires. In some cases it was impossible to access streets and sidewalks. Thousands of people lost power — many for as long as three days — and even SEPTA service to certain areas of the city and surrounding suburbs was suspended as a result.

Mary DeFranco was looking over her grandchildren at her daughter’s when the storm struck, she said.

“The children were real scared because all of a sudden it was so dark and we could hear all the noise outside,” the resident of the 1300 block of Moyamensing Avenue said. “There were branches flying around and it was raining cats and dogs. It really riled up the kids.”

There’s no question that the worst of the damages was that done to property both private and public as a result of falling trees. Many surrendered to the thunder, wind and rain causing a great amount of damage and a headache for the people who had to clean up the mess.

According to published reports, two trees split and crushed the fence around St. John Neumann Place, 2600 Moore St., another blocked the southbound lane of the 2600 block of South Broad Street resulted in cars detouring on the sidewalk to get around the fallen branches and about a dozen trees toppled over on the 1700 block of West Moyamensing Avenue. Even South Street could not withstand the storm and the 2100 block was shut down on Friday morning due to numerous fallen trees. Several more large trees also were down near Citizens Bank Park, 1 Citizens Bank Way, including some falling timber on the 1600 block of Pattison Avenue that landed on a out-of-town man and also struck a woman as she tried to help.

The storm also came as a shock for fans and players alike at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies found what began as a promising forecast with a lead over the Cleveland Indians when suddenly, in the eighth inning, it turned to the contrary as the black clouds began to roll in followed by an intense downpour of rain.

The members of the grounds crew were able to successfully drag the tarp across the diamond, that is until the extremely high winds began to cause a ruckus. A John Deere tractor was moved along the tarp to aid in keeping it from blowing away with any members of the crew, but it seems as though the storm only wanted to make its presence known at Citizens Bank Park, as after an hour-and-37-minute delay the game was able to resume and the Phillies added another win to their record.

In addition to the threat of these gigantic plants crashing down on streets and homes alike, the high gusts of wind proved to be a formidable adversary as well. Alexandra Underwood, of the 1600 block of Ritner Street, was working in Center City when she witnessed the high gusts carrying some unusual objects.

“The storm was so powerful it took a lawnchair off the top of a building and it landed in the middle of 19th and JFK Boulevard,” she said. “Luckily, no one was hurt because that could of been real bad, but it caused a big scene.
“The rain was coming down in sheets, it took me forever to finally get a cab.”

The New Light Beulah Baptist Church, 1701 Bainbridge St., found itself in a losing battle against the blustery weather. Part of the building’s roof was ripped up and flew off, landing on cars parked along the street, according to published reports. Fortunately, no one was injured inside the church or on the ground where the debris from the roof landed.

By Friday, the wreckage of the storm was apparent and people began the process of closing down streets, cleaning up debris and making the necessary arrangements for any damaged homes or cars. For some, this process dragged on through the weekend and even into this week. By now, most of the damage has been repaired, or at least it seems there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel.

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