Valley families deal with aftermath of damage from downed trees, debris

The noise frightened an 11-year-old girl who then spent the night at a neighbor’s home.

STAFF REPORT

The Millard family of Struthers was watching a movie at home when the evening was interrupted by a loud crash.

“We heard a big BOOM,” said Susan Millard of Maplewood Avenue.

A large tree from the neighbor’s yard crashed into Millard’s two-story house, damaging the chimney, roof and fascia, she said.

The family knew even before going outside it was the large tree. A branch had fallen earlier that evening into the neighbor’s yard, Millard said.

“It’s on my roof,” Millard said. “It fell and then the wind must have caught it.”

High winds that hit 60 mph Sunday night were blamed on Hurricane Ike. Ike had deluged parts of the Gulf Coast with water and wind late last week.

No one was injured by the fallen tree, but the loud crash so scared Millard’s 11-year-old daughter that the girl stayed at a neighbor’s house for the night.

“There are still pieces hanging and we’re worried more is going to fall on the house,” Millard said.

She said her insurance agent told her the company is waiting to see if the storm is determined a catastrophic event.

“She told us to take as many pictures as we can,” Millard said.

Residents throughout the Mahoning Valley spent part of Monday clearing tree leaves, tree branches and other debris from their yards.

In Poland Village, a large tree fell across the corner of a roof on North Lima Road. Other pieces of the tree lay in the front yard and across the driveway.

In Mill Creek Park, the golf course saw the worst damage.

“We had 15 to 20 trees on the course itself,” said David Imbrogno, park executive director.

The course was closed Monday, and whether it reopens today depends on cleanup progress.

Most roads in the park also closed Sunday night and remained closed Monday because of downed trees, branches and power lines, Imbrogno said.

“Driving on some of the roads was driving on someone’s lawn,” he said. “There were branches and leaves everywhere.”

Other than a couple of picnic tables, though, the fallen trees didn’t cause damage.

“We got really lucky,” Imbrogno said.