PHELPS, N.Y. — A tornado caused significant damage in Ontario County, prompting the National Weather Service to survey the Phelps area near County Road 23.
RELATED: SEE VIDEO: NWS set to visit Ontario County to determine if tornado touched down
The storm left a house uninhabitable, with its roof tarped to prevent further damage from rain. Fortunately, there were no reports of injuries.
Trees were uprooted, and the tornado caused significant structural damage. The homeowner, who is temporarily staying elsewhere, visited the site to meet with insurance representatives but declined to speak on camera.
“Thank God she’s safe and the most important thing,” said Dave DeRoller from Rock Emergency, a damage restoration business. “Next steps are to secure her home. We’re going to begin the storm wrapping process later today,” said DeRoller.
He added that such weather events are rare in Phelps, which makes it something they are not prepared for.
DeRoller said the homeowner was on ground level when the tornado hit and was unharmed. He believes the house can be restored, but it will take several months.
Rob Casler, is also facing damages to his home in Phelps, with many trees down and his trailer flipped upside down, taking down power lines.
Casler says the house is messy, but still livable.
“There’s probably 20 trees in the yard that are completely gone. It looked like a lawnmower just came across the backyard,” said Casler. “The pond out back, it uprooted giant trees.”
Casler’s friends are helping him clean up debris.
“The phone has been blowing up. Everybody’s like, what can we do to help? And, you know, so we got a lot of support,” said Casler. “Neighbors. We’ve all talked, you know, we support each other. It’s a good neighborhood.”
Casler says their neighbors roof went through their fifth wheel camper, tearing it open.
NYSEG crews were on site earlier Tuesday, working to replace poles and restore power to nearby homes. Insurance assessors have been there taking a look at the damage, but it will be quite some time before everything is cleaned up.
The National Weather Service confirmed Tuesday it was an EF2 tornado, with winds estimated at 115 mph, and the path extending 300 yards, the weather service says.
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