Every classroom in Reed Middle School in Hubbard was flooded.

Every classroom in Reed Middle School in Hubbard was flooded.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
Jason Cohol wanted to watch a little television during his dinner break to see what local stations were reporting about the heavy rains.
As he sat down to eat at Frankie's on North Main Street in Hubbard, he looked out the window.
"I saw a crowd gathering in my front yard and I knew it wasn't good," the East Park Avenue man said.
Sunday evening's downpour caused severe flooding throughout Hubbard, which was declared a disaster area by city leaders.
The Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna recorded 1.3 inches of rain Sunday; Hubbard officials estimate much more.
Thunderstorms and heavy rains that battered the Valley on Sunday night also closed roads, shut down a Girard aluminum plant and seriously hampered Youngstown firefighters' efforts to extinguish a fire at an East Side factory.
No fatalities or serious injuries, however, were reported.
Flooded basement
In Hubbard, after walking to his home, Cohol found his basement flooded with more than 4 feet of water.
Mud Run Creek, which runs between his home and the parking lot of St. Patrick Church, overflowed its banks, forcing residents in the first four homes on either side of North Main Street to flee. St. Patrick's also had flood damage.
The water rose several feet in minutes, turning streets into rivers and flooding buildings from downtown to the city limits.
Several youths were stranded at the Section Eight Skate Park and had to be rescued by city workers. No one was hurt, according to police.
Workers from the Trumbull County Engineer's Office monitored Mud Run Creek, making sure it didn't wash away bridges near the church. All vehicles and pedestrians were banned from crossing the structures for more than two hours.
Petula Loveless, who lives across the street, spent much of the evening with her husband and three children placing sandbags around the home of her mother- and father-in-law next door to try to save the archery shop in their basement.
"The water just kept coming in and a 2-inch steel door just buckled," she said.
Fire crews helped the Loveless family and their neighbors from their homes along East Park Avenue, East Water Street and Myron Street on the city's north side.
A temporary shelter was set up in the Senior Citizens Center behind the city administration building on West Liberty Street.
State of emergency
Safety-service director Robert Paterniti said the north end of the city and township were hit the hardest. Many in those areas were still trying to recover from high waters that damaged businesses and roads last week.
"I've lived in this town for 40 years and I've never seen anything like this in my life," Paterniti said. "I heard police officers on the portable radio trying to find the chief to have him declare a state of emergency, and I radioed in and told them I was declaring it.
"It was a no-brainer. I told them to do what they have to do."
Every officer in the city and township police department, all volunteer firefighters and all workers from the street and light departments were called out to keep residents off the streets, rescue those stranded by the rising waters and assess the damage.
Reed Middle School on Hall Avenue was flooded with almost two inches of water, said Superintendent James Herrholtz.
"It's in the media center, in the halls, in the classrooms. We have [water] damage in every single room," Herrholtz said.
Herrholtz and volunteers worked into the wee hours of the morning trying to mop up the water and clean out the mud and debris.
"We'll just try to clean it up and turn it in to the insurance company," he said. "That's all we can do. That's what we have insurance for."
Roads damaged
Several Hubbard Township roads also were heavily damaged from rushing waters. Township Trustee Fred Hanley said Youngstown-Hubbard Road at Fairlawn Avenue was closed when sections of the road washed away and a culvert collapsed on Bell Wick Road at Mount Everett Road.
North Main Street remained closed this morning, with high water from Drummond Avenue to Interstate 80, and the eastbound exit ramp from I-80 to Hubbard was closed.
Township Officer James Frank said police were also monitoring a home at Roseview Drive and Youngstown-Hubbard Road where basement walls were in danger of caving in and collapsing the house.
Some residents went to the shelter in Hubbard, but were anxious to go back home rather than spend the night.
Joe Faiola, of East Water Street, said fire officials evacuated him from his home around 8 p.m. His wife, Donna, who was at work in Niles when the storms hit, said she rushed home to check on him because he's on oxygen.
"I pulled into the parking lot and there he was, standing outside with his oxygen next to him, wearing a garbage bag," she said. "He looked like Rambo."
The couple's basement filled with more than three feet of water, but they wanted to return to assess the damage.
Liberty Township officials also set up a shelter in Liberty High School for those from Liberty and Girard who were forced out of their homes.
Residents of Colonial Manor Nursing Home in Liberty also were evacuated.
Girard
A Girard dispatcher said flooding occurred throughout the city, but noted the deteriorated dam at Lower Girard Lake was holding up.
Indalex Aluminum Solutions on South State Street was shut down after the building was struck by lightning, sparking a fire about 7 p.m.
That led to several explosions and large flames as smoke billowed around the I-80 bridge at U.S. Route 422.
Girard Fire Department arrived at 7:04 p.m. and its aerial fire-fighting unit had the blaze under control by 7:47 p.m.
Girard Fire Chief Kenneth Bornemiss said flood waters toppled basement walls and sent buckled road materials from side streets onto 422.
East Side
On the East Side of Youngstown, water got as high as two feet on Albert Street, stranding several motorists.
High waters made it difficult for fire crews to get to a blaze at East Jordan Iron Works on Andrews Avenue.
Fire Chief John O'Neill said the building was destroyed.
The fire broke out around 9 p.m. Waters surrounding the building kept the flames from spreading but it also kept firefighters from getting to the building for a time.
The first firetruck to arrive had to be towed after it stalled in deep water.
"Whatever could go wrong for us, did," O'Neill said.
The cause of the fire is being investigated.
Concert
In his hit song "Nellyville," rap music star Nelly contends he controls the weather and "the sun goin' shine 99 percent" of the time. Not the case Sunday night.
His performance at Cafaro Field in Niles was canceled.
Dominic Baragona, Mid-America events promoter, said the rapper's management was committed to rescheduling the event and would like to have it sometime in August if possible.
Refunds currently are not available.
Elsewhere
A McDonald woman was evacuated when her home began filling with water, said Sheila Cullins, corrections officer with the Trumbull County Sheriff's department.
All vehicles were ordered off the streets because of high water.
In Boardman, several houses were damaged by lightning. The damage at one home was estimated at $20,000.
Flooded basements were the only reports of damage in Niles and temporary power outages hit Canfield.
Warren reported several power lines down.
The Red Cross, meanwhile, continues providing emergency assistance and mobile meals.
In Trumbull County, as of Sunday, the agency had helped more than 100 individuals and families, served more than 2,000 meals and distributed more than 300 clean-up kits consisting of mops, buckets and bleach.
Members of the outreach team at Believer's Christian Church in Warren have been cooking and distributing meals since Wednesday.
They are preparing about 1,000 meals a day at LaBrae High School in Leavittsburg, according to church member Mary Dobson.
Columbiana County had reports of flooding and road closings, but mostly minimal damage.
About 100 families in the Canton area were evacuated from their homes, said Rick Alatorre, disaster director for the central Stark County chapter of the American Red Cross, which set up two shelters in churches in Canton and Louisville.
The heaviest rain fell between 4 and 7 p.m., with 3.78 inches reported in the Akron-Canton area, said Martin Thompson of the National Weather Service in Cleveland.
XContributors: Matt Bixenstine, Vindicator staff writer; The Associated Press