Philadelphia tornado watch puts region on alert

A tornado watch was issued for Philadelphia on Wednesday, just a day after the region endured severe weather that brought rain and damaging winds that culminated with a twister touching down northwest of the city. 

The National Weather Service confirmed that a tornado hit Morgantown in Berks County on Tuesday night, tearing apart homes and vehicles and uprooting trees. No injuries were reported.

While Philly only saw a tornado watch on Wednesday night, other areas of Pennsylvania had an increased risk of danger. Tornado warnings were issued for Lehigh and Bucks Counties. Areas of New Jersey was also under a tornado watch Wednesday. 

A tornado touched down in Stanhope, N.J. on Tuesday night, causing damage to a school there. Students, parents and staff were at Lenape Valley Regional High School when the twister struck Tuesday, according to reports. The tornado caused downed trees and power lines.

“We sheltered people in place [at the school] until we could establish a safe zone outside,” Stanhope Fire Chief Alan Bookspan told CBS2. “Once we established that there was no danger going on outside the building [and] everything was secure, we evacuated everyone car-by-car, family-by-family until the school was basically empty.”

A waterspout was also spotted in Fortescue, N.J. on Tuesday night.