{"id":2407,"date":"2012-10-17T13:50:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-17T13:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=2407"},"modified":"2015-01-08T16:31:07","modified_gmt":"2015-01-08T21:31:07","slug":"aftermath-of-tornado-in-northwestern-pa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/10\/17\/aftermath-of-tornado-in-northwestern-pa\/","title":{"rendered":"Aftermath of tornado in northwestern Pa."},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

June 2, 1985:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>Pittsburgh was spared the destruction caused by killer tornadoes that struck northwestern parts of Pennsylvania and sections of Ohio on Friday, May 31st. The tornadoes were the worst to hit the state since record-keeping began in 1854. The storms demolished property, took the lives of at least 61 Pennsylvanians and injured 600.<\/p>\n

This photograph shows Dale Kemp, a retired machine shop foreman, assessing damage to his home on Edgewood Road. \u00a0Mr. Kemp sustained leg fractures in addition to losing his home.<\/p>\n

But he expressed hope when interviewed by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. \u201cWe are going to rebuild,\u201d said Dale Kemp. And the community helped. \u201cSome men cut through uprooted trees in the front lawn while women helped wrap unbroken water glasses in newspaper\u2026 They\u2019re friends, neighbors and people I don\u2019t even know,\u2019 said Mr. Kemp.<\/p>\n

The closest funnel cloud to Pittsburgh was sighted at 9:40 p.m. on May 31st, nine miles to the north of the city, but it never touched ground. After the storm, the community of Allegheny County was concerned about the prospects of tornado hitting the area in the future. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette did not try to allay their fears. \u00a0On June 3rd, the newspaper ran\u00a0a<\/strong>\u00a0front-page headline that read: \u201cPittsburgh has \u2018no wall\u2019 against twisters.\u201d \u00a0The headline was inspired by a National Weather Service meteorologist, who said, \u201cThere\u2019s nothing sacred protecting Pittsburgh from tornadoes. There is no wall around Allegheny County.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Photo by Tony Tye, Post-Gazette)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This photograph shows Dale Kemp, a retired machine shop foreman, assessing damage to his home on Edgewood Road.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesAftermath of tornado in northwestern Pa.<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2408,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[948],"tags":[964,1025,991,1176,1052],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/tumblr_mc0ajwhlsV1rr5swxo1_400.jpg?fit=250%2C167&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6803,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2016\/06\/02\/when-tornadoes-tormented-the-pittsburgh-region\/","url_meta":{"origin":2407,"position":0},"title":"When tornadoes tormented the Pittsburgh region","date":"June 2, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\"It was eerie and evil and awful.\" That's how Dana Barker of William Street in Mount Washington described the sound of the tornado that tormented her neighborhood on June 2, 1998. 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