TREMONT - The National Weather Service said damage to trees and property in Tremont on Friday was the result of a microburst or straight line winds.
Representatives from the National Weather Service, State College, borough officials and others walked in the borough Saturday surveying the aftermath.
Bob Donmoyer, council president, said "nobody was hurt. Overall, we lucked out."
The NWS said the damage took place about 7:05 p.m. for about a one mile span and started on East Line Street near Good Spring Creek and continued on to routes 125 and 209. About 20 homes were damaged and 15 trees knocked down.
Most of the damage was to East Line Street, the NWS said.
The estimated maximum wind speed was 85 mph.
Michelle Fountain, 35, of Tremont, said she was fortunate that the damage to the house she lives in at 201 E. Line St. wasn't worse.
Two large trees were uprooted, one hitting the porch and the other the top of the roof.
"If that could have been a couple inches over and a little more force, it could have been down through the whole house," she said as she stood outside Saturday.
Fountain and her two children, Nicholas, 3, and Laura, 2, were sitting in the dining room eating dinner when she felt a unsettling feeling. She took her children to the basement and called her husband, Benjamin, 37, who was working in Atlantic City, N.J., and her father, Alvin.
She stayed in the basement for a couple minutes then came back upstairs.
"My son was still in the basement. He was still frightened," she said.
She looked out a window and noticed her porch was damaged.
"Oh no. Here we go again. We had a tree come down with (superstorm) Sandy. It landed on our van," she said.
The family has lived at the house for about four years.
She later noticed the damage to the outside of the house. The family stayed with Michelle's mother, Willa Moser, and her father, the owners of the Line Street home.
Willa said the home is insured.
Benjamin said he did not know the extent of the damage Saturday.
The Fountains are now staying in a hotel and have been given money for food, said Patricia Daley, a volunteer with the Red Cross of Schuylkill County.
Bixler Tree and Stump Removal, Ashland, cut up what they could of the trees. PPL had cut off electricity to the house as a precaution.
Down the street at 74 E. Line St., homeowner Richard Stewart didn't know his property was damaged from Friday's storm.
He was in Philadelphia.
"It was a little bit of a shock," he said.
Bricks came off his chimney. His fence in the backyard was bent. A tree came down.
He has lived in the house for about eight years and has insurance.
Tremont Mayor Roger D. Adams said the borough was fortunate.
"Nobody was hurt. That's one good thing," he said.
Peter Jung, warning coordinator meteorologist with the NWS, was in the borough Saturday. He issued the report.
He was still collecting evidence as of 2 p.m.
He said there was a mixture of cosmetic and structural damage to properties.
Of the 201 E. Line St. property, he said, it looked like a downburst pattern, meaning the winds fanned out in the area.
Donna Seward, Chestertown, Md., came to lend support to her son, Benjamin.
She was glad the couple was OK.
"They are blessed. It could have been worse," she said.