ALLENTOWN, Pa. – An Allentown homeowner caught on video the moment an EF-1 tornado touched down in the city’s Midway Manor neighborhood on Monday night.
Jennifer Shanaberger-Clerici lives on East Fairmont Street, and was in the direct path of the twister as it touched down.
- An Allentown homeowner caught Monday’s tornado on her home security camera
- The twister hit the city’s Midway Manor neighborhood around 7:21 p.m.
- It was rated an EF-1 packing 100 mph winds
The National Weather Service rated the tornado an EF-1 packing 100 mph winds.
No injuries or fatalities were reported.
The area was under a tornado watch at the time, but no tornado warning was issued.
Video from Shanaberger-Clerici’s home security camera shows the tornado pummeling the area at 7:22 p.m., as huge limbs are ripped from a tree and go flying by the camera.
The video cuts off because the electric service line – the dividing line between the utility company's property and the homeowner's property – was ripped from the home.
The twister was confirmed late Tuesday after a National Weather Service survey team inspected the damage.
In a public information statement, the weather service said the tornado began near East Pennsylvania Street, between North Ulster and North Van Buren streets. It continued northeast toward East Lily and North Wahneta streets, causing increasing damage by tearing a shed from its foundation and snapping or uprooting several trees.
The twister reached its maximum width of about 160 yards — and its maximum intensity — as it crossed East Fairmont Street, damaging multiple homes, including Shanaberger-Clerici’s.
"The greatest damage was to homes along the west side of Club Avenue, where multiple homes lost between 30 percent and 50 percent of their roof covering," the weather service said.
“One home had a front porch awning taken off the east side of the house, lofted, then landed about 100 feet away in the backyard of a house two doors down.”
The tornado then continued northeast across Club Avenue and crossed into Bethlehem as it began to weaken, but not before taking down several more trees and branches, according to the statement.
“The tornado then dissipated as it approached Pennsylvania Avenue,” the statement said.
The tornado was on the ground from 7:21 to 7:23 p.m.
