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Valley recovers from wind storm
and Brandon Klein
YOUNGSTOWN
Valley residents now can enjoy a few days of cooler temperatures and sunshine after a storm that blew through the area left a mess to clean up and many households without power.
“We had a very interesting setup [Monday]. We had a warm front move through the area, ahead of the cold front,” said Zach Sefcovic, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Cleveland.
“The next couple days will be much, much cooler than it was recently,” he said, adding that some showers might return this weekend and into next week.
Monday night’s storm was “mainly a damaging wind event” with wind speed reaching 60 mph, Sefcovic said.
The wind caused damage and power outages throughout the Valley on Monday night, leaving a mess for crews and residents to clean up Tuesday.
About 26,000 Ohio Edison customers in the eastern part of the state lost power between Monday night and Tuesday morning, said Mark Durbin, a spokesman for FirstEnergy.
FirstEnergy expected to restore power to some remaining customers by 9 p.m. Tuesday, and all customers by 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“Our crews have been working hard throughout this whole ordeal, and they won’t stop until power is restored for every customer,” Durbin said.
A power outage affected one Poland village neighborhood in which two schools are located, necessitating cancellations at Poland Middle School and McKinley Elementary on Tuesday.
“College Street was pretty bad,” said Russell Beatty Jr., Poland village police chief and streets commissioner, referring to the middle school location.
“One tree fell and snapped off two poles,” he said. “It smashed a car. It took down two poles and ripped the services from three or four houses.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, new utility poles were being installed and the schools were set to reopen today.
Another tree snapped and fell into a utility pole on Second Street, also in the village.
Beatty said most of the cleanup work, which began Monday night, was complete and that his crews were out Tuesday afternoon removing debris that residents had gathered from their properties.
Some Poland Township residents also lost power during the storm after a tree fell onto a transformer on Clingan Road.
Storm damage resulted in road closures in Mill Creek MetroParks on Monday as well. The park system closed a number of roads Monday night, most of which reopened Tuesday.
High Drive remains closed because it requires more clearing.
Monday night’s storm also caused “significant damage” to Campbell Memorial High School’s stadium, said Matt Bowen, superintendent of Campbell schools.
The school board was meeting at the high school, 280 6th St., when the power went out about 7:30 p.m., he said.
Shortly thereafter, custodial staff alerted school officials that one of the stadium’s four light poles fell over in the visitor stands of the stadium.
The light poles are about 80 to 100 feet and 12 years old. In 2009, the stadium’s architects recommended the poles be tested for their “structural integrity,” Bowen said.
All four passed the tests that year.
Although school was in session Tuesday, the stadium is closed to all students, staff and community members until the school district determines the safety of the three remaining poles.
“We will do what is necessary,” Bowen said.
The stadium’s closure may relocate the high school’s commencement, which traditionally takes place outside, to the field house.
Bowen said they have contacted their insurance about the damage and are waiting for an adjuster to assess the cost for repairs.
According to a report from the Campbell Fire Department, the damage is estimated at $350,000.