Citizens' Voice from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania • 3

tool if trad dlestiradfcDi) 09 2 dead, hundreds of homes damaged in Lake Carey area of Wyoming County By Carol Crane CitiMm'Voic Staff Writer 3 CL terday afternoon, Lt. Gov. Mark Schweiker flew into the Sky Haven Airport in nearby Eaton Township and spent the afternoon surveying the storm damage by air and on the ground. Linda Klcppinger, spokesperson for GPU Energy, said power outages were being reported from customers in Spring Lake, Tunkhannock, Falls, Meshoppen, be 3 Mehoopany and Lake Carey where i Av, all 412 customers were without electricity. Since all the homes depend on private wells, residents were without water because well pumps are powered by electricity.

Kleppinger said GPU Energy had called in crews from as far away as Erie and Atlantic City, N.J. to help restore power. At the shelter site organized by the Red Cross at Tunkhannock Area High School, insurance adjusters began setting up makeshift offices for customers to file damage claims. I Lt. Gov.

Mark Schweiker surveys damage at Lake Carey Related stories on pages 4, 5 A tornado touched down in Wyoming County Tuesday night around 10 p.m., cutting a six-mile long path through Lemon Township and Lake Carey, and leaving in its wake two dead plus scores of injured. In addition, as many as 300 homes sustained major damage. Of those, more than 25 homes were reduced to nothing more than jagged shards of lumber, shingles and glass. As many as 5,000 homes sustained damage from raging winds. State Police at Tunkhannock identified the dead as Pauline Dorothy Harris, 83, of Tunkhannock, and Glen Alan Mattocks, 35, of Meshoppen.

According to Wyoming County Emergency Management Director Ron Williams, Harris and Mattocks were inside a trailer home near Lake Carey when the force of the twister sucked them out through a window, tossing the pair like rag dolls against the residence next door. The killer funnel cloud apparently touched down on a hillside a few miles above Lake Carey and cut a swath about 1,000 feet wide as it rampaged down the hill, over the lake and onto the other side. All along the path of the twister, tree tops were clipped clean and utility poles lay on the ground, snapped in half like toothpicks. Williams said at least 16 persons had to be treated at Tyler Memorial Hospital in nearby Tunkhannock. He noted that as of Wednesday night, there were no reports of missing persons.

Rescuers used search dogs to comb through the rubble. Damage assessment teams were expected to work through the night and for the next few days. On Wednesday, travel Into the Lake Carey area was still impossible due to downed power lines and trees strewn across roads. Several residents complained because they were not allowed to return to their homes, even though the residences were habitable. Despite several pleas, EMA officials and rescue workers directed the residents to stay with relatives or at a Red Cross shelter set up at Tunkhannock Area High School until roadways were cleared and dangling power lines were repaired.

Williams, who also is a Wyoming County commissioner. 7. i--' i 3 Schweiker reported that last weekend, the National Weather Service began tracking a pair of severe storms that boiled up over Oklahoma. The first arrived in Northeastern Pennsylvania last Sunday night and went as far as Philadelphia before losing steam. The second and more powerful storm slammed into Pennsylvania on Tuesday, leaving a 13 year-old girl dead in Somerset County and two dead at Lake Carey.

The lieutenant governor was accompanied on his tour of the storm damage by state and federal emergency management officials as well as state Rep. Sandra Major whose legislative district covers Wyoming County. Also with Schweiker was Lisa Baker from Gov. Ridge's office. National Guard units were expected to remain in the area throughout the night last night to prevent looting and to keep out the curious.

Several of the homes near Lake Carey that were damaged are summer homes and were vacant when the twister hit. Williams said even though roads were being cleared of downed trees and other debris, danger still abounded from other trees and homes weakened by winds of more than 100 mph. "We know that people want to return to their homes, but we have to make sure conditions are safe first, he stressed. Red Cross spokesperson Molly Rogers said food, water, clothing, and mental health counselors would be available at the shelter Sec STORM, page 4 Gtiieitt'VokaWorrtfl Rudo Tornado thinned out wooded area around the lake said he lived in the area his entire a bow, Lawns everywhere throughout the area were dotted with torn and shredded pieces of roofing shingles and downed tree limbs. Twenty-four hours ago, we never thought anything like this would happen," said Wyoming County Commissioner Bill Rcid.

On Wednesday, Cov. Tom Ridge declared a state of emergency in 11 counties in Pennsylvania, Including Wyoming County. Yes The killer storm also wreaked havoc on barns and storage sheds. In the front yard of one damaged home along Route 29, four roaming sheep chomped on grass by the front door. About 50 yards away, what apparently had been their barn, lay in a heap of debris and hay.

Neighbors of the residence said a horse that had been inside the barn was still missing. life. "But I've never seen anything Uke he said. Along Lake Carey, homes In the path of the tornado were ripped from their foundations with huge chunks of roofs and walls coming to rest hundreds of feet away. In one remaining tree top about 30 feet high, a long strip of aluminum siding was left dangling in the wind, twisted around a branch like.