Tornado causes critical damage to New Kensington church bell tower

One of the bell towers at St. Mary of Czestochowa in New Kensington is so badly damaged from Wednesday’s tornado that it has to be removed, Msgr. Michael Begolly said in a message to parishioners.

A structural engineer has told church officials that the bell tower on the left side of the church and its steeple are not safe from the damage they sustained in the storm, Begolly told the congregation Thursday.

“We’re looking to see how we can remove the upper portion of the bell tower and the steeple and then to cover that just to preserve that from falling down and injuring someone on the street or sidewalk,” Begolly said.

New Kensington was hit by one of two tornadoes confirmed by the National Weather Service that touched down in the Alle-Kiski Valley area shortly after 1 a.m. Wednesday.

The stronger of the two was an EF-1 with winds up to 100 mph that traveled 4.1 miles from Frazer, three miles northwest of Tarentum, into New Kensington. The second, an EF-0 with winds up to 70 mph, hit Riverview Street in Lower Burrell and traveled a quarter of a mile.

No deaths or injuries were reported with either tornado, according to the weather service

It’s not uncommon for a storm that’s strong enough to produce more than one tornado, meteorologist Lee Hendricks said.

“What we’ve seen happen a good deal of times is one storm, one super cell thunderstorm, will produce a tornado. That tornado will run its course and collapse, if you will,” he said. “That storm stays strong enough to keep from breaking apart — they all have a lifetime to them — but we have seen the same cell produce another tornado.”

Hendricks said a lot of “little, seemingly insignificant things” combined to create favorable conditions for the tornadoes Wednesday. They included a strong southerly flow of moisture to the area, which Hendricks said is the fuel for tornadoes.

Tornadoes are not uncommon to the Pittsburgh area. Western Pennsylvania averages four to six tornadoes each year, Hendricks said.

From 1950 to 2018, Westmoreland County saw the most tornadoes, with 36, according to National Weather Service Data. Butler County had 23 in that time period, while Allegheny County had 16.

The strongest tornado in the Alle-Kiski Valley area was an EF-4 on June 3, 1980. It traveled from northeastern Allegheny County across into Westmoreland County and into southern Armstrong County. An EF-4 has winds between 166 and 200 mph.

The National Weather Service shows no tornadoes striking New Kensington between 1950 and 2018.

At St. Mary of Czestochowa, Begolly said crews worked Wednesday to remove debris from the church’s damaged roof, from Kenneth Avenue and from neighbors’ yards. The roof was covered with tarps to protect it from rain.

Begolly said the tarps would be removed Thursday so that a temporary roof could be constructed to attempt to save the structure of the building and its contents.

Inside the church, statues, altars and pews have been covered with plastic so they are not damaged by falling plaster, Begolly said.

Begolly extended a thanks to firefighters for their efforts in protecting the church’s interior.