Delaware suffers severe damage in Friday night's storm

Bob Brooks Image
Saturday, August 8, 2020
Severe weather moved through Delaware causing significant damage
Snapped branches and tree debris lined the roadway on Powder Mill Road in Delaware.

GREENVILLE, Delaware (WPVI) -- People across Delaware will be cleaning up after another round of storms moved across the area Friday night.

It comes just days after Tropical Storm Isaias left its mark.

Storm Hits Wilmington

Severe weather moved through Wilmington, Delaware causing significant damage.

It only took seconds, but Haynes Park in Wilmington will never look the same.

It's clear the path of what came through the city went straight through the park.

"Oh my God, it was so hard and so harsh and everything," Wilmington resident Peggy Grasty said.

"People's gutters came flying down the street, trash cans, full trash cans. Everyone on my block at least, we have no power," resident Coby Owens said.

Neighbors seemed convinced it was a tornado.

"The rain, the trees were blowing the bushes were blowing and everything like a tornado," Grasty said.

The tree that stood in front of Tracey Truitt's home now lies on her roof. But she remained in good spirits.

"No one was hurt. It's just a material thing which can be replaced. Just glad everyone made it out OK," Truitt said.

Trees fell on cars, trash cans launched through fences, and power lines came down all over.

But it wasn't just extreme wind that came through. An enormous amount of rain caused flash flooding.

Streams turned into rapids, and, on Route 13, motorists like new driver Renee Stafford had to be rescued.

"I was scared. I didn't know what to do," Stafford said. "I just got that car like three months ago."

Pickup trucks even stalled out as the water was just too much too quick.

"It sounded like a train. It literally sounded like a train," one neighbor said.

Greenville Damage

Snapped branches and tree debris lined Powder Mill Road Friday night in New Castle County, Delaware.

Near the Greenville Place Apartments on the 200 block of Presidential Drive there was even more destruction, with significantly larger trees snapped like twigs.

"I had literally just gotten home before all this started, all of a sudden it started getting pitch black. It was just thunder and lightning," said resident Rachel Raftery. "All of a sudden, I heard the patio furniture go flying across the back deck."

"The concrete is ripped up, the roots, it's awful," said Raftery.

Deeper into the complex, the damage was dramatically worse.

Congressional Drive looked more like a jungle from the numerous treetops that laid scattered.

"My phone alert went off and I looked outside and it looked like a whiteout blizzard. I went in my closet and then heard stuff hitting the house," said resident Vincent.

He, like many, spent the evening making sure neighbors were safe, and surveying the destruction. Amazingly, so far, the majority of the damage was centered on cars.

Based on what many saw, they believe the damage was the work of a tornado.

"Seemed like it, yes, it was pretty wicked," said resident Billy Wilson.

All this of course doubling down on the deluge and damage caused by Tropical Storm Isaias earlier this week.

A massive cleanup is underway in Delaware after a record-breaking tornado hit Tuesday during Tropical Storm Isaias.

Which in comparison, some say was just a minor inconvenience here.

"This is much worse," Wilson added.