WEATHER Trees, wires struck down as violent storm hits
The southeastern part of the county was hardest hit, a spokeswoman said.
By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LIBERTY -- It was lights out for Liberty police when a late afternoon thunderstorm swept through Trumbull County.
The township's generator kicked in, providing power for the department, which houses the township's emergency dispatching center. The power went off shortly after Tuesday's storm hit the township, officials said.
"We're not sure what caused the power to go out, but our generator is working and we're hoping to get the electricity working soon," said Pat Ungaro, township administrator, around 8 p.m. He noted that several residents were also without power.
According to Trumbull County 911 officials, the storm hit the area shortly after 5 p.m., causing downed wires and trees. A spokeswoman with the county 911 office said the southeastern part of the county, which includes Liberty, was hardest hit.
Damages
"We had a lot of lines down, and we there were several roads blocked off because of the downed wires," said Capt. Joe Timko, of the Liberty Township Fire Department. "A huge tree fell right on a truck on Tibbetts-Wick Road. We were able to get the driver out, and he's OK. The truck is not."
He noted there were also numerous tree limbs and power lines down on Shannon Road and Greenbrier Drive.
"It's always controversial, but we really need to do something about removing a lot of the trees we have and trimming several that are near power lines," Ungaro said. "We really need to take care of this so we don't have a lot of these problems when a heavy storm hits."
Police dispatchers in Girard and Hubbard also reported receiving calls of downed wires.
XON A4: Most people have limited faith that meteorologists can accurately forecast the weather.