LORAIN, Ohio — Back in August, a severe weather outbreak produced 12 tornadoes across Northeast Ohio. The storms left considerable damage across the area. Two weeks later, one community is still waiting for the mess that was left behind to be cleaned up. That's why we followed through and returned to Lorain to find out what’s the holdup.
We don’t just report the initial story—we follow through to its conclusion. Read and watch our previous reporting on this story below and see more stories that we've followed through on here.
After severe storms, Trish Stephanchick came home from vacation to a flooded basement.
“You never realize how much a couple of inches of water can just destroy everything,” Stephanchick said.
She's now dealing with upwards of $25,000 worth of damages.
“I am trying to be polite to people, but it's at the point where I just want to cry,” Stephanchick added.
Stephanchick has since gutted her basement, but the leftover trash and debris have been sitting at the end of her driveway for two weeks.
“We probably threw away 65 to 70% of everything in our basement," Stepganchick said.
She said the City of Lorain garbage collection service, Republic, won’t come to pick it all up.
“It’s collecting mice, bugs, it looks disgusting,” Stephanchick added.
Many of her neighbors are still waiting too. Couches, old kids' toys, and boxes are spilling into the streets.
Scott Valore, who has $5,000-8,000 worth of damages, said it’s not nice to look at.
“Would it be nice to have it gone, yes, do I understand,” said Valore. “I mean, there were a lot of people affected.”
The City of Lorain said some areas of the city had an excess of 20 plus loads versus their usual 3 to 6 loads, which has caused delays. Lorain Mayor Jack Bradley told News 5 crews are still out working, but he isn't sure how much longer pick-up will take. Bradley added the storm damage has been overwhelming for Republic garbage collection.
“I’ve called Republic, which is who we use; they had no idea for a date,” said Stephanchick. “The city had given us a few different dates; they came yesterday and took one thing. There were bees because it’s been out there two weeks, and then they left.”
Valore is trying to be patient.
“They’re doing the best they can,” said Valore. “They’re normally able to use one truck for I don’t know how many streets, but the trucks are just filling up so fast.”
Stephanchick feels the longer the trash sits, the stronger the reminder of the memories lost and the expensive renovation that lies ahead.
“We used to have huge Browns parties; we’d do New Year's party every year,” Stephanchick added. “My husband has a lot of friends, so we’d have 60 some people in at some point and no longer.”
