Strong storm topples trees, rips out power in Valley

Strong storm topples trees, rips out power in Valley

Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN

A brief but heavy storm swept through the Mahoning Valley just before 6 p.m. Sunday keeping police and fire crews busy with downed power lines and trees.

No one, however, was reported seriously injured.

Police were called to many streets on the West Side to direct traffic because power lines were down and traffic lights were out at some intersections.

A tree fell on a house along Schenley Avenue. Emergency personnel were called to the Schenley Avenue location several times for the low hanging power lines.

The Youngstown fire department said there were calls for fallen trees across the area. There were at least two reports of trees falling on homes, but a fire department representative said there were no weather-related injuries reported.

Austintown police reported numerous weather-related calls. There were several areas in Austintown where customers were without power for short periods of time.

By 10:30 p.m. Ohio Edison was reporting fewer than 500 households in Youngstown still without power.

There were power outages in areas surrounding the city, but not in significant numbers.

Showers in the area started at about 2 p.m. and continued throughout the evening until the major downpour at about 6 p.m. The last of the storm watches and warnings ended at 9:15 p.m. with a watch in Columbiana County.

The forecast today is expected to be about 89 degrees and sunny. The areas next best chance for rain will be Tuesday with a chance of showers or thunderstorms that evening.

Also on Tuesday, temperatures are predicted to rise into the middle 90s in Mahoning County.