Crews working to repair Washington County church roof ripped apart by tornado – WTAE Pittsburgh

RIGHT? WELL, SHANNON. ANDREW, CONSTRUCTION CREWS ARE WORKING RIGHT NOW TO REPLACE PART OF THE ROOF HERE AT CROSSROADS MINISTRIES. THAT WAS RIPPED OFF DURING THAT STORM AND SCATTERED THROUGHOUT THE AREA. FORTUNATELY, THE PASTOR HERE TELLS ME NO ONE WAS SERIOUSLY HURT. BUT THERES A LOT OF ROOF DAMAGE BACK IN HERE. ASSESSING THE DESTRUCTION TO CROSSROADS MINISTRIES CHURCH FROM THE INSIDE. IT WAS SATURDAY EVENING WHEN WINDOWS WERE SUDDENLY BLOWN OUT AND PART OF THE ROOF WAS LIFTED INTO THE AIR, DROPPING DEBRIS ON CARS IN THE PARKING LOT, SCATTERING CHURCH BOOKS AND OTHER ITEMS OVER THE HILLSIDE. AS AROUND 100 PEOPLE GATHERED FOR WORSHIP, I STAYED AT THE TOP UP THERE AND SENT THE PEOPLE DOWN. THEY CAME DOWN. WE CAME THROUGH THIS AREA. AND THEY WERE LINING THIS HALLWAY. PASTOR KEN BARNER EVACUATING HIS CONGREGATION TO THE BASEMENT AS THEY WAITED OUT THE STORM. YEAH, I WAS PRETTY SHOCKED MYSELF. I, UM, YOU KNOW, I, IVE LIVED HERE ALL MY LIFE. IM A PITTSBURGHER. IVE GROWN UP HERE IN PITTSBURGH. IVE SEEN TORNADO WARNINGS, BUT NEVER SEEN A TORNADO. THERE WAS SKY WHERE THERE SHOULD BE CEILINGS. SO WE WENT OUT AND CHECKED MY CAR, MY WIFES CAR, AND THEY WERE BOTH DAMAGED, AS WERE MANY CARS IN THE PARKING LOT. SOME NEIGHBORS EXPERIENCING THE FORCE OF THE TORNADO FOR THE FIRST TIME AS WELL. I NEVER WANT TO SEE ANYTHING LIKE THIS EVER AGAIN. IT SOUNDED LIKE A TRAIN COMING THROUGH THE BACKYARD. ID SEEN ALL KIND OF WATER COMING OUT OF MY POLE. UM, SEEING DEBRIS FLYING EVERYWHERE FOR. AND WERE OUT HERE NOW TRYING TO HELP PEOPLE OUT. GET SOME TARPS ON SOME ROOFS, WORK TO REPAIR ROOFS, AND CLEAR FALLEN TREES IS UNDERWAY. AND BACK AT THE CHURCH, SLAGLE ROOFING WORKING TO SEAL THE GAPING HOLE IN THE ROOF. BY THE END OF THE DAY, HES DEDICATED HIS TEAMS TO HELP THIS EMERGENCY SITUATION. HES NOT ONLY HELPING US, HES HELPING OTHER PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY RIGHT NOW. SO IM THANKFUL TO GOD FOR WHAT THEYRE DOING HERE. AND THERES NO SET TIMELINE FOR WHEN ALL OF THESE REPAIRS WILL BE COMPLETE. BUT THE PASTOR IS HOPING TO HAVE THEM DONE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE TO RESUME HAVING SERVICES ONCE

Crews working to repair Washington County church roof ripped apart by tornado

Construction crews are working to replace part of a church roof that was ripped off during Saturday evenings EF-2 tornado in Washington County.

Updated: 7:22 PM EDT May 13, 2024

Construction crews are working to replace part of a church roof that was ripped off during Saturday evenings EF2 tornado in Washington County.Pastor Ken Barner, with Crossroads Ministries in the Finleyville area, said the force of the winds took pieces of the roof right through the parking lot and over the hillside. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, Barner said.Barner said Saturday evening during a worship service, windows were suddenly blown out, and part of the roof was lifted into the air. The winds dropped debris on cars in the parking lot and scattered church books and other items over the hillside. Meanwhile, around 100 people had to evacuate the worship space and shelter in place.I was pretty shocked myself, you know. Ive lived here all my life. I'm a Pittsburgher. I grew up here in Pittsburgh. I've seen tornado warnings but never seen a tornado, Barner said.There was sky where there should be ceilings. I went out and checked my car and my wifes car, and there were many cars damaged in the parking lot, David Shepley said.Meteorologist Jill Szwed explains how anomalous the recent outbreak of tornados has been in the video belowBarner said Slagle Roofing was working to seal the gaping hole in the roof by the end of Monday.He's dedicated his teams to help this emergency situation. He's not only helping us. He's helping other people in our community right now. So I'm thankful to God for what they're doing here, Barner said.Washington County officials confirmed to Pittsburghs Action News 4 that there were some minor injuries as a result of the damage sustained to the church.

Construction crews are working to replace part of a church roof that was ripped off during Saturday evenings EF2 tornado in Washington County.

Pastor Ken Barner, with Crossroads Ministries in the Finleyville area, said the force of the winds took pieces of the roof right through the parking lot and over the hillside. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt, Barner said.

Barner said Saturday evening during a worship service, windows were suddenly blown out, and part of the roof was lifted into the air. The winds dropped debris on cars in the parking lot and scattered church books and other items over the hillside. Meanwhile, around 100 people had to evacuate the worship space and shelter in place.

I was pretty shocked myself, you know. Ive lived here all my life. I'm a Pittsburgher. I grew up here in Pittsburgh. I've seen tornado warnings but never seen a tornado, Barner said.

There was sky where there should be ceilings. I went out and checked my car and my wifes car, and there were many cars damaged in the parking lot, David Shepley said.

Meteorologist Jill Szwed explains how anomalous the recent outbreak of tornados has been in the video below

Barner said Slagle Roofing was working to seal the gaping hole in the roof by the end of Monday.

He's dedicated his teams to help this emergency situation. He's not only helping us. He's helping other people in our community right now. So I'm thankful to God for what they're doing here, Barner said.

Washington County officials confirmed to Pittsburghs Action News 4 that there were some minor injuries as a result of the damage sustained to the church.

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Crews working to repair Washington County church roof ripped apart by tornado - WTAE Pittsburgh