Tree crashes into roof, thousands lose power

One of the couple’s cats was still hiding in the house by late afternoon.

By DENISE DICK

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

POLAND — Sharon Wade sat in a car outside of her Lee Run Road home, watching the front porch cave in as fire crews worked to remove a tree that crashed into the roof during Wednesday morning’s storm.

Wade, who lives in the 1941 house with her husband, Dick, their dog, R.T., and two cats, Katy and Polly, was taking a shower about 4:45 a.m. when she heard what she thought was thunder.

“The next thing I knew there was a loud crash and a tree had fallen into the house,” said Wade, who was getting ready for work when the tree crashed in.

Wind gusts that reached 60 mph around 3 a.m. Wednesday caused widespread power outages, with 20,000 customers losing electric service in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties in Ohio and Mercer and Lawrence counties in Pennsylvania, said spokesman Paul Harkey.

At Wade’s two-story house at the corner of Jennifer Drive, the large tree crashed through the roof. Wade ran from the bathroom, ensuring that her husband, who had been sleeping in the bedroom, wasn’t injured.

The tree cracked the ceiling but hadn’t penetrated the couple’s living area. No one was injured although Katy, one of the cats, hadn’t been found as of late afternoon Wednesday. Wade believes the cat, which she describes as skittish, is afraid and hiding in the house somewhere.

After ensuring that they were safe, the couple called their insurance company. Firefighters from Western Reserve Joint Fire District arrived a short time later.

“They made us evacuate the house and shut off all of the utilities” because of fears the tree could cause more damage, she said.

High winds through most of the day caused the tree to shift.

The Wades grabbed a few things and the two pets they could find and moved into temporary living quarters at the Residence Inn, Boardman.

“I just grabbed a few things, and I keep thinking of other things that I should have brought,” she said. “It’s not easy to be homeless.”

The couple hasn’t received any information about how long it will take to repair their home. Dick Wade bought the house in 1985. His wife moved in after they married in 1989.

After depositing R.T. and Polly safely at the hotel, Wade returned to the house to watch as crews worked to dislodge the tree.

“Every time they move the tree, the front part of the house falls a little bit more,” Wade said by telephone.

Despite a frightening morning and uncertainty ahead, she says the couple isn’t in need of additional assistance.

“We have family and wonderful friends,” Wade said. She is a surgical nurse at St. Elizabeth Health Center, working primarily in the operating room.

At the height of the wind storm, 32,000 lost power, with the hardest hit in the Youngstown-Mahoning County area. Harkey said a 69,000-volt transmission line between Boardman and Lowellville tripped from the wind and caused an outage for 10,500 customers in Youngstown, Boardman, Lowellville, Struthers and Poland. At 8:26 a.m., the line was re-energized and power restored to those areas.

Harkey said about 600 customers in Youngstown and 500 in Salem were still without power Wednesday morning, but they were restored by late afternoon.

Also by late afternoon, crews had restored power to most of the 2,500 customers in Trumbull County who were without power, mostly in the Warren-Howland and Kinsman areas.

Harkey said about 12 customers in the Kinsman area and 30 in Mercer County were still without electricity at 6 p.m., but they were expected to back online by 9 Wednesday night.

In Youngstown, fallen wires were reported in the 400 block of Alexander Street; 2000 block of Market Street (near Eagle Heights Academy); Martin Luther King Boulevard at Madison Avenue; and Shirley Road at Detroit Avenue. Traffic signals were out at Midlothian and Youngstown-Poland Road, according to the 911 Center.

The Mahoning County 911 Center said pre-dawn storm damage was cleared up by daylight and no major problems were reported.

Austintown police said the wind downed trees and tree limbs in the township but traffic was not impeded.

In Pennsylvania, the Mercer County Courthouse was without power in some areas after high winds damaged a connection on a transformer in an alley south of the courthouse.

Bill Boyle, director of administrative services, said Penn Power made repairs, restoring full power to the courthouse by 10 a.m. The power outage caused technical problems with the furnace and repairs were necessary to restore heat by 11 a.m., he said. The courthouse remained open and no employees were sent home. Courts ran on a limited schedule.

One of three power lines coming into the courthouse was affected. During the outage, generators were used to run phones and some data lines.

Commissioner Brian Beader said the high winds also once again stopped the clock on the courthouse tower. The four-sided clock was repaired several years ago due to wind damage.