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Family Finds Dog Safe After Funnel Clouds Sightings In Lawrence Co.

NORTH BEAVER TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- Lawrence County 911 says there are still problems with scattered power outages and localized street flooding in the county, but no reports of major injuries or fatalities.

There was an apparent twister that touched down late Wednesday afternoon in North Beaver Township and adjacent New Beaver Borough.

Matt Jackson was driving home from work when he saw the tornado.

He told KDKA's Ralph Iannotti: "I could see a strange funnel cloud. I thought to myself, 'No, that couldn't be a tornado.' Just then, it did just that, it touched the ground."

On the Werner farm, Ryan Werner said a full-blown tornado destroyed an old dairy barn on his property and several machine sheds as well.

A quarter of a mile away, on Halltown Road, Steve Mallory said the porch of his mobile trailer was blown away, and lots of trees were downed on his property.

Werner's daughter, Whitney McAnlis, was relieved some three hours after the twister hit when she found the family dog, Jasper, under a fallen tree.

She told KDKA-TV that Jasper, an Australian shepherd, is about 14-years-old, blind and deaf, and was tied up when the storm hit.

"I was concerned about the dog because he's blind, he's old, he can't hear," she said. "I was worried because he's tied, he's a farm dog. He had nowhere to go."

He made it through the storm in one piece, but was soaking wet when he was found.

RELATED LINKS:
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