PERU, Ohio — Multiple trees were felled, roads are blocked and power is still out for thousands of residents Friday morning, mainly in the counties south and west of Cleveland, after severe storms rolled northern Ohio Thursday night.
Here’s a review of the severe weather from News 5 meteorologist Phil Sakal:
@news5cleveland Trees down, power out, roads closed after severe storms rolled through northern Ohio last night. Damage centered in Huron, Ottawa counties, where NWS teams will survey the damage of a possible tornado. More on the News 5 app.
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Tornado touches down
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ASHLAND COUNTY
The National Weather Service confirmed Friday afternoon that an EF-0 tornado touched down in Nankin Township in Ashland County.
The tornado hit around 8:47 p.m. Thursday, reaching speeds up to 85 mph. Its impact area was 300 yards wide by 1.2 miles long. No one was injured in the event.
HURON COUNTY
The Huron County Emergency Management Agency also provided a video and an image of a possible tornado in their area.
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@news5cleveland 🌪️ Here’s video and images of a possible tornado in Huron County from the county’s EMA. Download the News 5 app for the latest, and tune in tonight for coverage of the storm aftermath.
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According to Huron County EMA, storms wreaked havoc on North Fairfield Thursday evening. The damage to the small community of around 500 residents was extensive.
Bob Jones | News 5 Cleveland
“I took trucks, and we go out, and I do spotters and see if anything is coming. Well then, pardon my French, but all hell broke loose,” North Fairfield Fire Chief Edward Eden said.
Trees were damaged, with many down on homes in the area. Residents lost power, and in some cases, those wires went down on cars and homes.
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Bob Jones | News 5 Cleveland
It appears North Fairfield was ground zero for storm damage in the county, Huron County EMA said.
Cleanup is now underway and is expected to continue for quite a while.
Bob Jones | News 5 Cleveland
“The cleanup is not going to be fast, I can tell you that. But it’s like everything else; we’ll survive,” Eden said.
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For North Fairfield resident Roger Osborn, that cleanup will take much longer. His house, built in 1848, had several trees fall on it during the storms. Three of those trees are now partially inside the home.
Osborn and his wife rushed to the basement when they heard the noise of the storm approaching.
“(For) 10 seconds, it roared like a freight train, and then it was done. It was over within 10 to 12 seconds. The show was over,” Osborn said.
For all the damage left behind by the storm, Osborn said he is grateful he only has roof damage. His home is extremely meaningful because about 30 years ago, he discovered tunnels in his basement that local historians said were part of the underground railroad.
“Supposedly, a couple of U.S. Presidents that were from Ohio have been in my neighbor’s house and this house,” he said.
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Art Mead, the director of Huron County EMA, said that despite Mother Nature’s wrath, residents are counting their blessings that no one was seriously hurt. The tight-knit community is working together to recover from last night’s terrifying ordeal.
“If it gets to a point where we need extra help, I will reach out to the state, but as of right now, I’m not the only county that was affected by this, as you’re aware of,” so we’ll kind of do our thing and figure this out,” Mead said.
LUCAS COUNTY
The National Weather Service confirmed late Friday afternoon that an EF-2 tornado touched down North of Toledo and tracked east into Point Place in Lucas County. Estimated peak wind gusts were 130 mph and it was on the ground for about four minutes.
[3:55 PM] Preliminary NWS storm survey confirmed an EF-2 tornado touched down north of Toledo, OH and tracked east into Point Place, OH. It was on the ground for about 4 minutes with estimated maximum peak wind gusts of 130 mph. Additional survey information to follow. #ohwxpic.twitter.com/QtIuZfQ0OM
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Lightning show
OTTAWA COUNTY
Radar and photos of damage in Ottawa County show that a tornado likely touched down there Thursday night.
STORM SUMMARY: Yesterday evening became VERY active and dangerous for many communities across NE Ohio (from The Islands straight through New Philly). The NWS will be sending out teams to check out damage to determine wind/tornado strength. I will keep you posted what they find! pic.twitter.com/17k5IKrm11
“The (National) Weather Service will come tomorrow and survey the damage, but I’m 99% confident it’s a tornado,” said Fred Petersen, director of the Ottawa County Emergency Management Agency, to the Akron Beacon Journal. “There are trees lying in different directions, and by the nature of the damage,” it appears that it was caused by a tornado.
Photos sent to News 5 show damage likely caused by a tornado, like this leveled farm structure near Point Place in Ottawa County.
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Point Place, Ohio
Oak Harbor residents clean up after severe storm damage
Power outages
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Thousands were without power Thursday evening and Friday morning. Currently, according to FirstEnergy, the following counties are still affected by outages as of 3: p.m.:
Many roads were closed throughout Northern Ohio but have since reopened.
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The storm caused the most damage in central-north counties like Huron, Erie and Ottawa and Sandusky.
As it rolled through Northeastern Ohio Thursday night, lightning strikes provided some dramatic images of Cleveland, like this one captured by News 5’s Alex Farmer.
Alex Farmer
Lightning strike over Cleveland Thursday night.
Viewer Maddie T.even captured a video of lightning striking the Key Bank building:
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RAW: Lightning strikes Key Bank building in Cleveland
Maddie T.
Image of lightning striking the Key Bank building in Cleveland.
Stay tuned to News 5 for more reports of damage and effects of the storm in Northeast Ohio.
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“The Biggest Party of the Summer” goes down tonight.
WWE SummerSlam 2024 takes place this evening, live from Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio.
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Scheduled for tonight’s premium live event is Cody Rhodes vs. Solo Sikoa in a Bloodline Rules match for the WWE Universal Championship, Damian Priest vs. GUNTHER for the WWE World Championship, as well as CM Punk vs. Drew McIntyre with Seth “Freakin’” Rollins as the special guest referee.
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Johnson stated the following…
“We are told that The Hardys met with WWE very early this morning. No word on what was discussed, but we have also heard some content was filmed to be rolled out via WWE digital as well.”
Matt and Jeff recently teased the idea of challenging for the WWE NXT tag team titles. Jeff has also commented on potentially being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame with his brother.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The city of Cleveland is seeking public input and engagement on its ambitious five-year transportation initiative that aims to enhance the safety, comfort and convenience of walking, biking and using public transit across the city.
In a news release Friday, the city said it hopes to harness the feedback and build upon the multimodal transportation plan, dubbed “Cleveland Moves,” which includes five key components: