LORAIN, Ohio — Hundreds of Lorain homeowners are still reeling from storm damage after heavy rain, high winds and even some tornadoes swept through all parts of Northeast Ohio back on Aug. 24.
Homeowners like Louis Rodriguez are wondering how they'll be able to deal with the ongoing clean-up and afford repair and replacement costs associated with all the home and personal property damage.
“A Lot of people got a lot of damage, and we don’t even know if the insurance is going to cover it, which I doubt it," Rodriguez said. “A lot of people need help because we can’t just do this by ourselves; this is too much, especially with all the trash.”
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Colleen Walts with the United Way of Greater Lorain County told News 5 calls to the 211 information referral hotline have increased tenfold in the past week, with anywhere from 1,000 to 1,500 resident calls for a wide variety of storm-related assistance.
“They’ve actually called in additional folks to be able to answer the amount of calls that we’re receiving," Walts said. “We have folks currently who are on the list that are 500 people plus who are displaced from their homes who cannot be in there because of livable conditions, it is of the utmost importance that we get federal funding, that we get state funding.”
Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley is responding to the growing need, working with Lorain County Emergency Management. The Mayor and the City of Lorain have put together a residents survey, hoping to collect crucial storm damage data that can be submitted to the State of Ohio.
"It was a very, very tough storm. All of our departments have been out working really day and night, so we're letting the Governor know that we need some help here," Bradley said. “We received a spreadsheet from Lorain County Emergency Management to use to get this data back to them so that they can approach the Governor’s office, and hopefully enough data is provided so that we can show that this was a disaster for the City of Lorain.”
Bradley said residents who have been hit with storm-related damage can fill out the questionnaire using the Voices of Lorain web page, a link on the City of Lorain Facebook page, or by using the Lorain Listens app on their smartphone, which can be downloaded for free from the App Store. Bradley said residents who need further guidance in filling out the survey can all call 440-204-2020 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and a City of Lorain employee will help them.
“Hang in there, complete the survey, get us the data," Bradley said. "I’ve been told by Lorain County Emergency Management it’s going to be difficult to have a state of emergency declared, but the more data we can present to them, the better our chances are.”
News 5 is committed to following through on the Northeast Ohio storm clean-up effort.
