LORAIN, Ohio — Issues have lingered for several months from what has been called a once-in-a-lifetime rainstorm in late August. Lorain County’s largest homeless shelter is nearly ready to welcome back clients after several months of work to repair flooding damage.
Heavy rain, high winds, and even several tornadoes swept through Northeast Ohio on Aug. 23-24. Many in Lorain County dealt with the aftermath for days, weeks and even months.
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“It came so quickly, and it just wouldn’t stop,” Norma Vasquez said.
She shared photos with News 5 of nearly two feet of water rushing into her Lorain basement. The family had to throw out nearly everything they had stored there over three decades. Vasquez said the tree lawns in her neighborhood were full of belongings many of her neighbors lost in the flooding.
“This is a very poor neighborhood. We have a lot of people who are low-income,” she said. “Just the impact to those people, I can’t imagine. It breaks my heart.”
Down the street, some of the county’s most vulnerable residents also felt the impact. About 20 inches of floodwater filled the lower level of The Haven Center, the only emergency shelter for men, women and children.
“It was tough. The staff, people had tears in their eyes because we knew what we had to do. And we were going to have to move everyone,” recalled Rebecca Haywood, the chief of staff at Neighborhood Alliance, the organization that operates the shelter.
She estimated the flooding caused around $300,000 in damage to the facility’s kitchen, laundry area, community space and case management office. It destroyed flooring, doors, HVAC systems and nearly all of the kitchen equipment.
“It’s scary all the way around,” Haywood said. “Probably the worst part of it is the effect on the residents.”
The shelter, which can accommodate up to 68 people, had to pivot its services quickly. For more than two months, Neighborhood Alliance has worked with community partners to put families and individuals in hotel rooms across the county. Case management and food assistance have become mobile to help meet client needs.
“They’re already displaced when they come to us. So it was really unfortunate when this flood happened, and then we had to displace them again,” Haywood said.
The unexpected flooding has offered a silver lining. The community space and lower-level facilities were scheduled for a refresh in the coming years. Still, the flood damage made it necessary to update the flooring, paint, doors and appliances. Emergency funding will allow the shelter to add a “kid’s corner.”
The updates come before a planned expansion to the shelter. It broke ground in September on the multi-million dollar addition, bringing its capacity to 88, adding more family-friendly and social distancing space and a large courtyard for recreation.
The expansion is slated to finish in fall 2024. Before then, the organization looks forward to welcoming its clients back to an updated shelter by next week.
“It was just really rough on everyone, so we’ll be very excited to get this open and bring everyone back in,” Haywood said.
Some neighbors said they, too, are finally regaining a sense of normalcy after the flooding.
“My prayers are to those who are still struggling to get back on their feet because it was bad, it was really bad,” Vasquez said.
