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'We Got Banged Bad:' Freedom Hit Hard During Saturday Morning's Storms

FREEDOM, Pa. (KDKA) - Saturday morning, many people were woken up by their phones' alarming tone of severe thunderstorms in their area.

In Beaver County, the damage done has families looking for a place to stay until their homes can be repaired.

"We got banged bad, a lot of damage," said Louis Armstrong, the mayor of Freedom.

Cleanup crews have had their work cut out for them in Beaver County after a quick but dangerous storm made its way through Freedom early on Saturday morning.

"It was just so loud, it sounded like a freight train was coming through, it was really scary," said Jenna Betz.

Neighbors like Devyn Lindemann were woken up by alerts on their phones and quickly grabbed his family to take cover.

"I started hearing the tree start hitting the side of the house, so I ran upstairs and grabbed them, got in the basement and our neighbors started coming over, so I opened the back door, told them to come in and as they were, I watched a tree fall back," he recalled.

"We had about seven trees down, power lines ripped out of the house, there's a gap about an inch wide going from the kitchen to the side of the house," said Tony Belanger.

Through the downed trees and power lines, Mayor Louis Armstrong grabbed a chainsaw and was helping clear the way.

The National Weather Service says they'll be in several different areas surveying the damage.

They did confirm two tornadoes in the area as part of the storms.

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