Published: July 31, 2008 08:57 am      

Possible tornado

Churchgoers brave winds as sheared trees collapse onto homes; no injuries reported

ACCIDENT — Nothing will stop the 7:30 p.m. Wednesday service at Zion Lutheran Church in downtown Accident — not even a possible tornado that literally blew open the front doors and shook the church to its rafters.

Thankfully, to the best of everyone’s knowledge, no one was hurt when what appeared to be a funnel cloud touched down briefly in the heart of town and skipped across U.S. Route 219 about 6:15 p.m. Several trees and a light pole were sheared off about 25 feet off the ground causing many to wonder if the possible tornado hit the ground and then bounced, sparing lives and homes.

Trees fell onto the home and garage of Dr. Walter Naumann off Cemetery Road behind the church. He was not home nor was his neighbor, Mary Bach, whose residence also had some damage. The Drane House, the first log cabin built in Garrett County in the 1790s that sits further down the road, was unharmed.

Many residents didn’t see or hear anything unusual such as hail during the storm, and in the blink of an eye, it was gone.

“It was a thunderstorm,” Nancy Frank said. “The electric went off several times and it rained hard.”

Zion’s Pastor Keith Clow was in his basement office meeting with a couple and their newborn when he noticed the lights flicker. As he looked outside and saw trees falling, the Midwesterner suspected it was a tornado and told the family to run.

“The front doors opened up and the building shook,” he said, as he herded all to the deepest part of the basement.

A cottonwood tree fell on Clow’s two vehicles, but neither that nor the storm stopped the midweek service.

“We’re thanking the Lord for sparing lives,” Clow said, noting attendance was about 15 people — a good crowd for Wednesday.

Frank said she attended to give thanks as well.

Mayor Richard Carlson, who also is chief of the Accident Volunteer Fire Department, was in Oakland when the storm came through and heard the call for trees down in Friendsville but had no idea what had happened. Next thing he knew, his wife called to tell him that Accident was in the path as well.

“The most important thing is everyone’s OK,” he said, adding he believed that to be the case in Friendsville, too.

In addition to Accident’s firefighters, the Beitzel Corp. brought in heavy equipment to help with the removal of trees and the State Highway Administration was bringing in crews as well as a wood chipper.

“This is when you should really help the fire department,” Lorene Dawson said. “They put in many hours and don’t get the thanks.”

On the way to his Mountain Lake Park home, Paul McIntyre, resident maintenance engineer with the State Highway Administration, drove through town about a half-hour before the storm hit.

As McIntyre watched WTAE from Pittsburgh, he heard a tornado had touched down in Accident. He was back in within minutes and was helping to coordinate efforts there.

“I was praying we didn’t have another Salisbury (Pa.),” he said referring to the tornados that struck in 1998.

This time, most of the damage appeared to be minor although it stretched along state Route 42 all the way to the Pennsylvania line, northwest of Friendsville, he said. Crews were to continue working in both towns and would clean routes 219 and 42 before night’s end.

Contact Maria Smith at msmith@times-news.com.