Valley storms down trees, live wires

May 30, 2012 at 12:05a.m.

CANFIELD

After a massive tree crashed into her nearly 100-year-old home Tuesday, Yvette Baker said she felt thankful.

“I just thank God that we are safe,” she said.

Baker, her husband, Tom, and their 4-year-old grandson, Isaiah Driscoll, were in their Broad Street home in Canfield during the storm.

“Mess, mess, mess,” said Isaiah afterward, as he dodged fallen tree limbs on the ground while trying to reach the front door.

Baker said she and Isaiah were sitting in the breakfast room when it began to hail. They watched as a 12-foot piece of pine tree tumbled into their backyard and then felt an earthquakelike rumble as another tree hit the opposite end of their home.

“The tree went through the ceiling into the upstairs bedroom and left a big gash,” Baker said.

Severe weather packed a one-two punch in the Valley on Tuesday, with morning and evening storms leaving trees and power lines dangling in their wake.

Trees fell onto a house and car in the morning in Mecca Township, and power outages were reported in Brookfield and Vernon townships, said a Trumbull County dispatcher.

Several homes lost power in Boardman during the early storms, and when a second band rolled through about 6:30 p.m., a tree fell onto a Lockwood Boulevard home, according to reports.

During the evening bout of rain, wind and hail, Canfield’s village green was among the hardest-hit areas as trees splintered, snapped and littered roadways.

Cardinal Joint Fire District firefighters responded to numerous reports of fallen wires from high winds and falling trees, but no injuries, said firefighter Jim McCreary.

“The biggest problem with a sudden storm is when it takes trees and wires down. We have to make sure the wires aren’t live, and almost everything was live today,” he said.

Baker praised the firefighters who helped her. Because of the structural damage and lack of electricity, her family is staying at a local hotel.

“It’s a historic house. We were restoring it, and I guess we’ll do a real restoration now,” she said.