STRONG WINDS CAUSE BIG DAMAGE

“You couldn’t even see out the window the rain was coming down so hard – it was like a white out with rain.” Jim Seman

TMC NEWS PHOTOS: BRIAN WOODS

Elyria – As strong winds and heavy rainfall blew through town Jim Seman was in his office at the Industrial Park off Lowell Street. “We saw the rain start and it was coming down pretty good but then all of a sudden it just turned really dark and ugly. You couldn’t even see out the window the rain was coming down so hard – it was like a white out with rain.”

A little north of the Industrial Park sits a small church – The Glorious Assembly Apostolic Church – that was caught in the middle of the storm that took many by surprise. A large portion of the roof was peeled off the church and blew north onto Seneca Ave.

Many homes and cars were damaged as the roof broke up and landed all over the neighborhood.

One Seneca Ave resident said that he watched the noon news weather forecast – “They said rain, but didn’t warn us about this. Nothing like this was in the forecast. It just blew through like hell and left us with this mess. We have wires down, parts of the Church roof all over the place and tress down. This is just a mess.”

Although most residents believe a small tornado swept through the neighborhood, authorities believe the damage was caused by straight line winds.

PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by: BRIAN WOODS