Pocono News Section

Bloomsburg Blasted by Storm

Bloomsburg Blasted by Storm - Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 7:30PM EST

Reported by: Eric Deabill
Wednesday, Jun 11, 2008 @ 07:30pm EST
BLOOMSBURG, COLUMBIA COUNTY- Columbia County also took a direct hit during last night's storms. 3,000 people are still without power. Many will not see service restored until Thursday afternoon.

A majority of the damage is centered across the campus of Bloomsburg University. It stood tall for 150 years but Tuesday night it came crashing down in seconds. A large tree toppled as strong winds blew through the Bloomsburg University campus. Lynda Michaels said, “I haven't seen anything like that in recent history here."

The front lawn of the alumni house now looks like a war zone. Michaels is the Alumni Affairs Director. “It’s been a nice part of the landscape and unfortunately now its fire wood for somebody. We're going to miss the tree," she said.

The tree that toppled had a diameter of 13 feet, but it wasn't the only casualty. Alumni Affairs Secretary Joy Bedosky said, “The wind blew our tent up in the air and crashed it down and tables and chairs were flying all over."

Several cars won't be flying down the road any time soon. Two were totaled in the storm. Dawn Kehs of Bloomsburg said, “At first I felt like I was going to cry. Then I was like, whatever. I'm out of a car. It stinks, but I'm alright."

Bloomsburg Senior Rick Donald is also alright, but his car's not. Now that the tree that destroyed it is gone, his ride is going to the scrap yard. “My trunks ripped up. It went down into my trunk, knocked off my radiator and went into my engine," he said.

Damage like this can be seen all over Bloomsburg. Many students were in class when the storm hit within minutes. Senior Dan Platt said, “We looked outside and it looked like someone was spraying the windows with a fire hose. You really could not even see across the quad."

Because of the extended power outage, ice and water for residents are available at:

- Anderson Ice Company in Berwick
- Boyer's Market in Berwick
- Weis Market in Berwick
- Sheetz in Bloomsburg
- Weis Market in Bloomsburg