Storm causes damage in communities across Philadelphia region

POTTSTOWN, Pa. (WPVI) -- Crews are cleaning up after a storm caused damage in communities across the Delaware Valley on Wednesday afternoon and evening.

PECO said 32,000 customers were without power immediately after the storm, with about half of the outages reported in Montgomery County.

One of the hardest-hit areas was Pottstown.

Action News captured a large tree that fell onto Hanover Street during the height of the storm. Jennifer Berry said it happened just feet from her home.

She described it as "a massive crash. It was like an explosion. Very scary."

When the storm rolled through, Berry ran inside with her dogs. She said everything "went white" outside as strong winds blew and heavy rain fell.

Berry lost power, but she said she hasn't lost perspective. She told Action News, "We can clean this up. It was an inconvenience to not have power, but thank goodness nobody was hurt."

Not far from Berry's home on Hanover Street, several trees fell at an apartment complex.

Joshua Groff, the property manager at the Linden Apartments, said his tenants described the storm as a "freight train coming through."

"Apparently, we had straight-line winds coming through, and it took down three of our trees. Two of them, unfortunately, fell on buildings at the complex."

Groff said there is severe damage to the roof lines, plus a broken door and window.

But, he said the tenants in his 36 units are OK.

Less than a half mile up the road, on Mervine Street, a large tree fell onto a home after being uprooted during the storm.

The American Red Cross says it is now assisting the two people who live there, as well as four people who live on Savage Road in Pottstown.

The Red Cross said its volunteers will be providing financial assistance, access to health services and referrals to local resources to help the families.