A tornado that tore through Crawford County last night caused significant property damage but no injuries, officials said.

Rich Forsgren, Erie Times-News via AP Don Hart surveys the damage to his family's farm east of Cochranton, Crawford County, yesterday from atop a corn bin that had its roof ripped off by a tornado. Debris was scattered across the farm. Click photo for larger image.

At least one twister touched down and others were spotted in the area, said Stephen Watt, the county's director of emergency services.

A tornado touched down about 5:23 p.m., just west of Interstate 79 about 8 miles south of Meadville, said Mike Dutter, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Cleveland.

The twister then moved east for about 7 miles, damaging roofs of homes in Greenwood and Fairfield townships and significantly damaging some businesses, Watt said.

In Greenwood, a tornado destroyed an 80-by-150-foot structure used as a shipping plant by PPG Industries, tearing off the metal roof and sides and bending some of the steel beams, said Shirley Beuchat, the facility's supervisor for human resources.

The storm also bent some doors in the building, blew out windows and piled up eight truck trailers in the shipping yard, she said.

"It looked like a train derailment," Watt said, saying the storm "stacked the tractor-trailers up like cordwood."

About 50 to 60 people working at the facility, which produces automobile glass, had taken shelter in a basement when the storm hit, Beuchat said.

"They got there just in time," she said.

Spotters had noted the oncoming storm and notified employees to take cover, she said.

After the tornado moved on, some employees "went home to make sure their homes were OK," but later returned, she said.

Despite the damage, work resumed at the facility around 7:30 p.m., she said.

J-M Manufacturing Co., located behind the PPG plant, wasn't so fortunate.

Damage from the storm was so extensive that the facility, which produces 1/2-inch to 12-inch diameter pipe, will probably be shut down at least a month, said manager David Slawson.

The tornado "threw pipe everywhere," blew away the building's south wall and also peeled off a 400-by-40-foot strip of the roof, Slawson said.

Three overhead doors also were blown out, he said.

The tornado also "broke out all the windows in the front office and a lot of the roof is gone," Slawson said, adding that officials were working to recover computer files.

Sheet metal and spikes that had secured the roof also were left lying all over, he said, and the roof was partially caved in.

Thirteen employees in the building were alerted about the tornado by the Greenwood fire department, Slawson said.

They took cover in a concrete pit, 10 feet deep, inside the building and no one was injured.

A dairy farm on Route 285 west of Cochranton also was damaged.

The storm ripped the roof off a 10,000-bushel grain bin at Hart Farms. The roof was found about 600 feet away, on the other side of a barn.

	Rich Forsgren, Erie Times-News via AP Sally Freyermuth and her husband Dave survey storm damage that left a tractor wrapped in sheet metal stripped from a corn bin by a tornado that raced through Crawford County yesterday. Click photo for larger image.

Another grain building also was heavily damaged and a 30-foot-by-60-foot building was "completely gone," said Jim Hart, 38.

In addition, a shed and a tractor were damaged and a roof was torn off the milk house, he said.

Dutter said the tornado was rated at F-1, with wind speeds of 73 to 112 mph. Tornadoes can range from F-0, the weakest, to F-5, strongest.

Ted Erdley, 43, of Cochranton, said he was standing in front of Hart Farms as the storm approached. He said he could see the funnel cloud in the distance.

"When it hit the open field, it started gaining speed like crazy," he said.

Watt said he was surprised that the destruction was not worse.

"We got very lucky," he said. "The best part of all was that no injuries were reported."