Crucial Luzerne County assessment database still inaccessible due to cyber attack
Editor’s Note: One year ago tonight, an EF-2 tornado tore through Wilkes-Barre Township. Reporter Dan Stokes was one of the first journalists on the scene, and his early photos of the devastation were widely circulated by national media. He went without sleep for about 36 hours, toiling away on updates. We asked Stokes to share his recollections from that night.
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June 13, 2018 had been an ordinary day up to that point.
It was my third week as a reporter with the Times Leader after graduating from King’s College, and I was finishing another night cops shift.
As I was leaving the building around 10 p.m., everyone’s cellphones received an alert saying tornado, seek shelter now. I quickly rushed home, avoiding the storm’s wrath by near seconds.
I could hear the loud wind gusts blowing torrential rain every which way. I never lost power like many did that night, but my lights flickered on and off.
As soon as the passing storm appeared to calm down, I received calls from all of my editors asking if I could head up to Panera Bread in Wilkes-Barre Township.
Word was people were trapped inside the eatery. It looked like a war zone, I was told.
I hesitated for a moment, but agreed. I’m not going to lie, I was scared. I had never experienced a tornado in my life.
My editors encouraged me to be safe, and I headed out. I expected to see mass casualties from whatever had torn through the Arena Hub Plaza and surrounding areas.
My biggest fear was driving over a downed wire in my 1998 Pontiac Grand Prix with its very bad windshield wipers. I called my parents and told them I loved them, because I truly was venturing into the unknown.
As I was communicating with my editors and photographer Aimee Dilger, who twisted her knee trying to document the devastation with her camera, I came to a road block at Mundy Street and Highland Park Boulevard.
A good Samaritan, who I later found out was a former volunteer firefighter, was helping escort first responders to the disaster zone. There was a heavy odor of gas in the air with people shouting out that the area could blow at any moment.
I drove over to the Wyoming Valley Mall parking lot. I saw beams of emergency response vehicles lighting up the sky. I wanted a closer look.
With one hand on the steering wheel and the other documenting what I was seeing over Facebook Live, I parked near Chipotle.
Debris was scattered all over businesses and in the street. The Flower Tent, which later gained much social media fame via memes, sat unscathed amid the wreckage.
When I first started this job I was told to never cross the yellow tape at a scene.
Well, there wasn’t any tape up yet since I had gotten there about 15 minutes after the tornado passed through. Cell service had become spotty, so I made the command decision to cross into the disaster zone.
I was overwhelmed with what I saw: It looked like a scene from an apocalyptic movie.
I took a few steps toward Panera in Wilkes-Barre Township Commons. Its roof had been ripped open and its windows were blown out. I came across a group of people including Bruno Isles, a young man who was one of the many unsung heroes of the night.
Isles, who was working in Panera at the time the tornado struck, said tables and chairs flew through the restaurant. He sustained a cut on his arm helping to save two women who were trapped in a walk-in cooler that began to fill with water from a busted pipe.
Neighboring storefronts in the plaza were littered with broken pipes, busted wires, collapsed walls and ceilings. A piercing alarm sound blared across the plaza.
Turning to my right, I saw crushed cars and innards of furniture strewn across the pavement from Ashley Furniture, which had been ravaged by the tornado.
I spoke with a police officer who told me Barnes & Noble in the adjacent plaza had been hit hard and people had to be evacuated.
I didn’t meet Joe Stager that night, but I later learned the manager’s quick thinking helped saved fellow employees by huddling under a counter as the storm roared over Barnes & Noble.
As more first responders arrived at the disaster area, the smell of gas was still very prevalent.
As we all later found out, the tornado had touched down at the U-Haul store and made its way up Mundy Street toward Interstate 81, decimating everything in its path.
I quickly took as many photos as I could, but the growing fear that the scene could literally go up in flames made me leave.
I rushed back to the office and typed up what minimal details I could offer to Luzerne County residents. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t eat. I was ready to help out and provide coverage in whatever way I could.
While many of the displaced stores have reopened with a new look, others reopened elsewhere and rebuilding has yet to begin at the Panera site, now just an empty lot.
One thing is certain: The first responders, good Samaritans and cleanup crews did a phenomenal job in assessing the situation and making the scene safe for all. The officials involved, especially from Wilkes-Barre Township, also did an excellent job of keeping local media informed in the hectic hours and days that followed.
I thank God every day that no one died, although there were several injuries. Had that tornado struck an hour or two earlier, this column would be recounting a much different story.
Many of us learned some hard lessons that night: It can happen here, and we all need to take the warnings seriously when they come in.
FULL COVERAGE
• Read Times Leader stories about the storm and its aftermath at https://www.timesleader.com/tag/tornado
• For our recent story on redevelopment, visit https://tinyurl.com/paneraplans
The roofs and facades of stores at Wilkes-Barre Township Commons were heavily damaged by the tornado.
Panera and the Wilkes-Barre Township Commons plaza are seen shortly after an EF-2 tornado blew through on June 13, 2018.
Reporter Dan Stokes is seen revisiting tornado-ravaged areas of Wilkes-Barre Township on Wednesday, one year after a powerful EF-2 twister tore through the commercial area around Mundy Street.
Gloss