Bucks County Residents Recall Devastation A Year After EF-3 Tornado Ripped Through Community
TREVOSE, Pa. (CBS) -- This week marks one year since an EF-3 tornado ripped through Bensalem, Bucks County. The twister injured six people and damaged anything in its path.
"It was devastation," resident Joe Notte said.
It's been nearly one year since a tornado cut a path of destruction through parts of Trevose and Bensalem, leveling the Faulkner dealership off Street Road and wreaking havoc inside the Penn Valley Terrace community.
Eighty-eight-year-old Mario Notte lives with his son Joe and was home when the twister touched down, ripping both sets of their stairs off.
"I saw them flying by. It took it like it was nothing, like tin cans they were," Mario Notte said.
Joe says in total his home sustained $25,000 of damage including windows, siding and the roof -- something not paid for through FEMA.
"You would think but no, everything fell on our homeowners, which thank God we were covered," Joe Notte said.
While Faulkner has rebuilt, along with most of the homes here, there's a problem not likely to be solved any time soon.
The turnpike sits less than a quarter mile away from this mobile home community. Before the tornado, residents say large trees formed a perimeter blocking them from being able to see, and most importantly, hear the traffic.
"You couldn't even hear the turnpike before. Now, that's all you hear," Wayne Turner said.
"It's very very loud with the trucks and motorcycles," Joe Notte said.
While most agree the noise is a nuisance, they also say it's a reminder to be grateful, knowing how close they came to disaster.
"Well, you get two chances in life, I think that's my second one," Mario Notte said.
