DID TORNADO TEAR THROUGH? Terrified residents say twister damaged Dieruff, homes. Photos by Douglas Kilpatrick Special to The Morning Call FIRE AND SCHOOL OFFICIALS survey the damage to Dieruff High School on Saturday after the remnants of Hurricane Hanna passed through the area. The storm also damaged homes in the area and tossed trees around, one of which lies on the school. By Dan Hartzell Of The Morning Call An apparent tornado blew through a neighborhood near Louis E. Dieruff High School about 2:45 p.m. Saturday, blowing tree limbs through school windows and badly damaging the building's roof. No injuries were reported, but roofs on several nearby homes also were damaged, trees were toppled, power lines pulled down, siding was blown off and residents were stunned. Allentown School District officials could not say whether Dieruff students should report for classes tomorrow. Decisions will be made today, and parents will be notified through the district's automated phoning system, said Facilities Services Director Bob Sperling and Chief Financial/Operating Officer George Crawford. "We have broken windows, there's a section of the roof torn up and the ... water's pouring through," Sperling said, but the district will marshal resources to pull things together as quickly as possible. "We might be able to go on Monday," he said. Sperling could not say how large a section of roof on the sprawling, one-story building was damaged, but a large swath of flexible plastic -like sub-roofing material was draped over the top of the planetarium. An investigating meteorologist with the National STORM PAGE A2 "You could see the debris hundreds of feet in the air, swirling around. It was just like you see in the movies." KEITH MERKEL Whitehall Township
