GRAFTON, Ohio — Swift severe thunderstorms left thousands in Lorain County without power and left many homeowners in Grafton like this one with a mess of downed trees to clean up.
Coming home from work is often the best part of the day, but for Dave McLellan, Tuesday, it was the opposite.
“It was kind of a shock,” said McLellan. “I saw the branches down and I figured maybe we will have some tree limbs down and I pulled in and see this.”
McLellan's 35-foot oak tree fell onto his house after severe thunderstorms swept through Lorain County and other parts of Northeast Ohio.
“Structural damage to the top of the roof there’s a hole in the roof too so the roof is probably shot and these two trees got to be removed,” McLellan added.
The strong winds also knocked down dozens of power lines in Grafton and Eaton Township, causing thousands in the area, like Terri Kelly and even the Grafton prison to lose power.
“We heard thunder,” said Kelly. “I didn't see any lightning, but thunder then it calmed down. Then all at once around 2:00-2:30 P.M. we have been without power ever since. We don’t know why, I couldn’t tell you it rained two or three times after that, but we still haven’t had any power.”
The hot temperatures reached almost 90 degrees Tuesday, making Kelly nervous about how long she could last without air conditioning.
“We won't be sleeping probably because it will get too warm in the house unless it drastically cools off outside,” Kelly said.
No one was hurt in the storms, but those impacted are fighting to stay cool as cleanup and power restoration continue.
“I want to see it resolved now because if this is going to continue, what are people going to do?" asked Kelly. "It’s supposed to be hot until Sunday."
First Energy said it understands power outages in extreme heat are difficult but wants customers to know crews are out working to restore power to the greater Cleveland area as fast as possible. First Energy added if you have downed power lines in your area call 911.
