The Times-Tribune from Scranton, Pennsylvania • 1

i FINAL 40 SCRANTON, PA JUNE 3, 1998 WEDNESDAY, RICH BANICK THE SCRANTON TIMES Lake Carey Ravaged INSIDE Wayne and Pike counties not back to normal. Page 10 Somerset County hit by storms again. Page 15 a Insurance agency offers tips storm victims. Page 18 Forecaster says storm could have been worse. Page 18 BY MICHAELJ.

RUDOLF FRANK SCHOLZ AND DAVID SLADE THE SCRANTON TIMES LAKE CAREY The tornado roared out of the darkness and slashing rain around 10:30 p.m., destroying houses, felling hundreds of trees, and tearing two residents from their homes and tossing them to their deaths. Using search dogs and boats, rescue workers spent this morning looking for more victims at this quiet lakefront community. The National Weather Service has not officially declared the weather event a tornado, but theres little doubt in the minds of those who have seen the damage. I have never seen anything like this before, said Wyoming County Commissioner Ron Williams. It looks like a bomb hit it.

Firefighters with chain saws and hundreds of volunteers worked to clear a path through fallen trees that made every rpaJ to the lake impassable. National Guard troops arrived this morning to reinforce rescue efforts. Weve had so many reports of mobile homes that are just tord right apart and we cant find the people who belong to them, Mr. Williams said. A state Department of Transportation crew tried to make its way through one access road to the lake early this morning only to find its path blocked by a mountain of trees 15 feet high.

One worker climbed over the trees and found a home ripped off its foundation with two people still inside. Volunteers were conducting a house-to-house search by boat around the lake in an effort to determine which residents needed help. Military helicopters were called in to assist. The damage came as a line of severe thunderstorms swept through Pennsylvania on Tuesday-night on the heels of an earlier storm system two days earlier, when at least half a dozen tornadoes smashed up several towns. This is a widespread storm, one of the worst in history, said John LaCorte of the National Weather Service in State College.

The two people killed at Lake Carey were an elderly woman and her neighbor, a middle-aged Please see RAVASED, Page 18 jip- 4 1 JV 5 1 V. i Jp' A CMS i 1Tv. V'W SvjJ 4 WEATHER Partly cloudy Details on Page 18 ohc Scranton aunts FOR A SUBSCRIPTION, CALL: 348-9190 TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD, CALL: 343-9157 3 Tlw TbnM I printed on Mcyctod papar and la McyctaM. Above: A swath of devastation from the storm and probable tornado at Lake Carey can be seen from the door of Ron Bishop's cottage. At right, remains of a building on Lake Carey litter the ground, along with a mixture of downed trees.

Trees sliced through some homes, turning places with memories of safety and fun Into scenes of destruction. At least two people were killed during the storm. It Sounded Like a Freight Train i Witnesses Describe Natures Fury INDEX AMUSEMENTS ASTRO-CRAPH 26 BRIDOE BUSINESS CLASSIFIED COMICS 29-38 28 EDITORIAL LIFETIMES JJ LOTTERY MOVIE TIMES OBITUARIES THE REGION SPORTS 27 14. IS 24.29 19-23 J1 TV TON 10 HT HILP IS AVAILABLE Wyoming County Emergency Management Agencys rumor-control hotline number: 830-2828 American Red Cross of Wyoming County: 836-2626 IY FRANK SCHOLZ AND 8INA THACKARA THE SCRANTON TIMES LAKE CAREY Ron Pasternak heard what he thought was a freight train coming through his trailer, and it wasnt stopping. I thought I was dead, he said.

Mr. Pasternak and his wife were inside the trailer and they dove under a couch, grabbing onto pillows. When it was over, the roof on the 1-year-old trailer had blown away, three vehicles in the yard were destroyed, and there were no trees standing on his property. Wilma Tompkins, who lives on the' southern end of the lake, was sitting on her front porch enjoying the storm when she heard a Whoosh and the windows blew out Plane see TERROR, Page 19 Visit ewr Wnwl ilt a Ron Bishop surveys the damage in his living room from the storm that hit Lake Carty '( A.