Did a tornado tear through our region yesterday?
Yes, according to the National Weather Service, an EF-0 tornado hit the Robscott Manor neighborhood of Newark, Del. yesterday afternoon around 4:45 p.m.
“In the house it sounded like a bomb going off,” said resident Tom Boyle.
According to the Weather Service, the funnel cloud was 150 yards wide and left a fourth-tenths of a mile path of destruction. This type of storm can pack wind gusts up to 78 mph, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.
“I saw the tree coming through the house and I started screaming. I just screamed, and screamed, and screamed, there was nothing else I could do,” said Tom’s wife Peggy Boyle.
Luckily no one was hurt.
According to the National Weather Service, large trees fell on 10 to 20 homes, causing heavy damage between Glasgow and Newark along Routes 72 and 4. Many of the residents in the area said that they didn’t pay much attention to the Tornado Warning that was issued for Northern New Castle County in Delaware and was in effect until 5:15 p.m.
Local
Breaking news and the stories that matter to your neighborhood.
Originally, the National Weather Service reported that a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado moved northeast through the area at 30 mph. A National Weather Service team investigated the area throughout Tuesday morning to determine that the storm really was a tornado.
The weather officials determined that the twister only touched down in the Robscott Manor area and that other damage in parts of Delaware and Maryland were caused by straight-line winds.
An NBC10 viewer also sent in a picture of the tornado.
Photo Credit: Amy Drennan
Ambler Sudler says if she and her four children were inside their Newark home, they would have been sitting right where a tree crashed into their living room.
"Thank God everyone is OK," she said. "I'm just in shock right now."
The Red Cross will shelter those who have nowhere to go.
