Possible tornado or microburst at Carlisle on Saturday 8/25 PM

[LilRedCorvette]

Unfortunately, the Carlisle Fairgrounds was hit with a tornado or microburst last night that caused a lot of damage to cars and vendor displays. Many tents came down onto cars that were parked beneath them. You can see pics of the damage and read more here (http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=1795584) and here (http://forums.corvetteforum.com/showthread.php?t=1795593). There are some injuries reported.

Luckily I had left with a few others at 6ish PM. The touch down was at around 7 PM. There was a lot of wind, lightning, and rain on the drive home. The storm knocked out power in Carlisle and a few traffic lights were out on Route 15.

Anyone who was still there when it happened or staying in Carlisle for the whole weekend, please let us know that you are OK.

[Jack and Karen]

Hi all-

Jack and I arrived home a little while ago. The storm hit after we'd left for the evening yesterday (we only live 45 min. away from the fairgrounds).
Upon arrival this morning, we saw lots of large tree limbs down along the roads. When we entered the fairgrounds, there were tents in mangled piles everywhere. Sounds as if it was very scary for about 15 minutes last night.
The parade had left the fairgrounds, and cars were starting to park in Carlisle when it hit. A tree fell on a car in the parade. The driver was taken to the hospital, but is OK.
At the fairgrounds, there were approx. 17 injuries, with 5 or 6 of those taken to the hospital.
There are lots of rumors going around about fatalities. While there were injuries, there were NO fatalities.
Lots of damage to tents, vendors merchandise, cars. It was really quite a mess. [:(]
At this point, they are saying it was not a tornado, but a microburst or straight-line winds, with wind gusts above 70mph.
Karen Priestner

[LilRedCorvette]

I had suspected it was a microburst, rather than the initial reports of a possible tornado, as I had experienced a microburst a few years ago back in NY (and my ex-fi there was a meteorologist). Same exact thing happened. Lots of trees/branches down, debris, roof pieces, etc, strewn about but no structural damage to buildings. Horizontal wind and rain, dark eerie-colored sky, lightning, and the like.

I am glad to hear you and Jack are OK, and left before getting stuck in that storm.

[LilRedCorvette]

Here's a little bit better news source I found, rather than having to sift through the CorvetteForum rumor mill.

Carlisle Storm (http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/118810142774760.xml&coll=1)