Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker has declared a disaster emergency one day after at least four storms known as microbursts ripped through parts of Philadelphia and Montgomery County, downing trees and power lines and causing electrical outages and road closures.

A disaster emergency declaration allows the city to more quickly mobilize resources, bypass certain regulations, and potentially obtain state or federal assistance.

Parker applauded the work of first responders and city crews, who she said have been working since Saturday afternoon to deal with a storm that tore off roofs and partially collapsed buildings in the city.

“Our work is far from over. City crews will continue working around the clock to clear hazards, restore services, assess damage, and support every affected neighborhood,” Parker said Sunday.

How can damage be reported?

For immediate hazards, and to address any life-threatening emergencies, call 911. All non-emergency issues in the city should be reported to 311.

Parker urged Philadelphia residents with damage to fill out an online survey at https://www.phila.gov/damagereporter.

Parker urged people to check on their neighbors and help one another.

What the damage looked like

In South Philly’s Girard Estate neighborhood, Scott Hutcheon used 311 to request help with a mature tree that had splintered apart and fallen on his 2017 Chrysler minivan.

“I really didn’t hear the branch fall, but I heard the winds howling — they were coming down the street like a freight train," Hutcheon said Sunday.

The 43-year old electrician and father of four had to keep his kids, who didn’t understand how vicious the winds were, from going out on the porch to get closer to the action.

“I don’t think that I’ve seen winds this strong since Hurricane Sandy,” said Hutcheon, referring to the 2012 tropical storm that deluged the region and much of the East Coast.

Hutcheon said he hopes the tree is removed soon because 19th Street is a bus route, but he understood that workers had to address another tree on nearby Colorado Avenue first. That one had fallen on a house, he said.

His neighbor, Joanne Podagrosi, noted that the storm felled two trees on their block, as well as a large bough of branches. The debris lay on the street late Sunday morning, wreathed by smaller leaves and branches, while police tape kept cars from turning down the street.

“It was just a blur of rain,” said Podigrosi. She said she’s lived on the street 22 years, “and it’s the worst we’ve ever seen.”

What are microbursts?

At least four microbursts hit the region, the National Weather Service said Saturday. The first hit Lower Merion in Montgomery County. Subsequent microbursts landed in Northeast Philly, West Philly, and South Philly.

“Microbursts are where during a thunderstorm, we see a rapid increase in the updraft, and then it ultimately stops, and the whole mass of the storm goes down, and that’s how you get those very strong winds,” said NWS meteorologist Ray Martin. " As they say, what goes up, must come down.”

City emergency management officials said winds reached up to 70 mph.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Kevin Bethel said Saturday that the city’s 911 dispatchers fielded 3,000 calls during a one-hour period at the height of the storm.

A Philadelphia Housing Authority property on Vine Street near 55th in West Philadelphia had part of its roof blown off during the storm. Eleven units in the building were affected, officials said, and residents were relocated to nearby hotels.

Those displaced residents will be moved into new PHA units on Monday, according to PHA president Kelvin A. Jeremiah, while repairs are completed.

Elsewhere in the city, at least two buildings partially collapsed due to the storm: a vacant property at 24th Street near Washington Avenue, and another building in West Philadelphia on Lansdowne Avenue near 56th Street.

Slightly fewer than 7,500 PECO customers remained without power Sunday at 1:30 p.m., down from 34,000 Saturday evening, according to the PECO outage tracker. Most of the outages were concentrated in West Philly and Montgomery County.

The damage was evident to anyone walking or driving around the city.

Trees were ripped from the squares of dirt where they’d grown for decades and lay toppled on sidewalks and roadways. Debris from drywall or similar construction materials was scattered on the Girard Point Bridge linking South and West Philly.

At the Wawa on Bartram Avenue, guests tugged on a locked door and peered inside before seeing the handwritten signs turning them away: “Power outage. System down.”

Just a block away, the traffic light was blinking red, leaving drivers to move through the intersection on their own.

At the edge of Yeadon Borough, a downed tree had dragged an electrical line with it. Cars swerved around both. All along Cobbs Creek Parkway in West Philly, drivers faced fallen trees and road closures.

Lower Merion Township was one of the worst-hit places, and its leadership declared a state of emergency Saturday afternoon.

The disaster declaration has since been lifted, but “at least 55 township streets are still blocked or partially blocked with trees,” the township said.

Resident Gigi Moffat said one upshot is that the disaster brought people together. In her neighborhood, people were out cleaning up, checking on neighbors, and offering people coffee.

“Everyone stayed really positive, which is great,” she said.

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