High winds strike Valleys, downing many trees, power lines
Staff report
YOUNGSTOWN
Winds that blew through the Mahoning and Shenango valleys between 1 and 6 p.m. Friday brought gusts as high as 59 miles per hour and downed a large number of trees and power lines.
As many as 6,000 customers were without power in the Mahoning Valley by 5 p.m., but many of those had been restored by 8 p.m.
No injuries or significant damage to structures was reported anywhere in the five-county area.
The temperature, which reached a high of 51 Friday, dropped as the high winds blew from west to east through the area. By 8 p.m., the temperature had dropped to 32. A low of 28 with snow was predicted for today.
Snow accumulation of 1 to 2 inches was predicted through tonight and then a rise in the temperature Sunday to 42 and Monday to 51, according to 21 WFMJ-TV, The Vindicator’s broadcast partner.
“It seemed like it hit all at once,” said Joe Rosky, assistant Boardman fire chief, who supervised firefighters who responded to numerous calls Friday. “I left the station at 2:30 p.m. and got back at 6 p.m.”
One of those was on Griswold Drive south of Shields Road and west of Market, where the top of a tree fell on the patio deck of a house. It damaged the deck but apparently not the house, Rosky said.
Power was out in that and other neighborhoods as a result of downed lines, Rosky said, adding that the Griswold power hadn’t come back on by 8 p.m.
About 4 p.m., when winds gusted to 59 mph, a large section of bricks blew off the side of the Honda Store, 448 Boardman-Canfield Road. The bricks fell on six cars next to the building, causing extensive damage to the vehicles.
Wind damage caused the traffic light at Mahoning Avenue at Meridian Road in Austintown to blink yellow, leading to a traffic backup.
Austintown fire and police blocked a small section of state Route 46 south near Starbucks after a wire came down.
Robbin Patton, Trumbull County spokeswoman for Ohio Edison, said 2,900 customers throughout the county were without power at the highest point of the storm.
They were scattered throughout the county, including Howland, Champion, Lordstown, West Farmington, Bloomfield and Bristolville.
The majority of the damage was done between 3 and 6 p.m., and all but about 700 customers were back in service by about 7 p.m., Patton said. All customers were expected to have service by this morning, Patton said.
Trumbull County 911 received more than 35 calls between 1 and 5 p.m. The high-wind warnings in effect for the area were canceled at 7 p.m., a dispatcher said.
The Youngstown Fire Department had numerous calls for downed trees and power lines but no injuries or serious damage.
Transformers were sparking at Schenley Avenue and Bears Den Road on the West Side and Ford Avenue on the North Side. Calls kept coming in until about 7 p.m., a dispatcher said.
Mercer County 911 received numerous calls about power lines and trees down, especially in the northern areas of Mercer County in Greenville and Jamestown, a dispatcher said.
Lawrence County 911 took about 20 wind calls between 2 and 5 p.m. but no reports of injuries or major damage.