Narberth, Lower Merion residents and officials grapple with afternoon of vicious microburst storms

When a violent microburst storm slammed into Narberth on Saturday, it brought down a 120-year-old Sycamore tree onto a home in the historic Narbrook Park neighborhood.

The fire department in the surrounding Lower Merion Township responded to 98 incidents over the weekend, making numerous water rescues.

And residents are still grappling with the aftermath of a violent storm shaking their communities.

Communities in Montgomery County, along with other spots in the Philadelphia region, suffered vast amounts of damage Saturday afternoon as microburst storms ripped through the area.

A microburst is a highly-localized column of sinking air during a thunderstorm that can produce strong winds and extensive damage and, in some instances, can be life-threatening, according to the National Weather Service.

Peco has continued to restore power to affected households, as of roughly 5:30 p.m. Monday, with 119 outages affecting a little more than 1,500 customers.

Narberth Council Vice President Cyndi Rickards said the skies went from clear to stormy in just a matter of minutes Saturday before a microburst ripped through the Montgomery County community.

Then, just as quickly as it arrived, came the downed trees, power lines, flooding, and power outages.

It was something Rickards, a more than 20-year resident of the community, had never seen before.

“It became apparent that nearly every street in Narberth had a tree down, a substantial tree on a car,” Rickards said. “I believe we had two that fell on or near houses. Many that narrowly missed houses.”

One of those near misses happened at Hugh Parker’s residence while he was spending time with relatives down the Shore. Once he and his family heard about the 40-foot tree knocked down in their front yard — covering their driveway and the car of his wife, Grace, they rushed home.

Their basement had also been flooded and the family’s newly reconnected power lines started a fire, which eventually went out on its own.

Rickards described the local government’s response to the storm as “such a comprehensive disaster response for a small little borough,” adding that Jeff Eldon, the public works director, closed down any streets where he suspected downed wires or trees.

Narberth Mayor Dana Edwards also declared a state of emergency, which has since been lifted, and has facilitated a spot at the borough hall where residents can cool off and charge their devices. He also indicated that the borough had “great support” from Peco.

“It was really everything we could do just to keep everybody as comfortable as possible,” Edwards said.

In the surrounding Lower Merion Township, commissioner Ray Courtney reported similar issues as Narberth’s, especially when it came to old trees that were toppled by the storm.

When the storm was over, the public works department closed the roads, some of which continued into Sunday morning, said Courtney, who represents parts of Ardmore and Wynnewood. As of Sunday night, crews had cleared 59 downed trees and there were 38 remaining.

For local officials, the episode also underscored a need for further discussions regarding improving local infrastructure and resources for extreme weather events.

Many communities, like Narberth and Ardmore, for instance, have historic infrastructure that cannot always handle aggressive storms.

“I think this is the reality of storms now,” Courtney said. “They are hard, they are intense, and they dump a lot of precipitation in a short period of time, and all local governments, and our state and federal government, need to be thinking about improvements to our infrastructure, and the resiliency against this kind of weather event.”

In the immediate aftermath of Saturday’s storm, residents — especially those whose property has been damaged — are hoping for incremental improvements.

A neighbor’s tree fell on the roof of Robert Hilton’s home on Merion Avenue. Water started dripping into his second-floor bedroom and the carpet remained soaked.

“I’ve lived here for 41 years, and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Hilton.

The fallen tree, Hilton says, had been a concern for more than 20 years. It was old, unhealthy, and situated at the top of a bank, making it prone to structural instability. The microburst was the final piece of the puzzle, and the uprooted trunk now lays tangled with power lines in the middle of the street.

Hilton lost power during Saturday’s storm, but it was reconnected on Monday at 2:30 p.m. “It’s baby steps,” he said. “That’s all we can hope for.”