City reports extensive damage from severe storms

Lyndhurst was one of the cities sustaining heavy damage during severe storms that battered Northeast Ohio on the night of Sept. 13 and early morning of Sept. 14.

“We had a quite a few storm-damage calls,” said Lyndhurst Fire Department Capt. Ryan Procop.

The department also responded to two reports of structure fires during the storms. Procop said both fires are under investigation, and he couldn’t immediately confirm what role, if any, the weather played in those blazes.

Procop estimated that Lyndhurst Fire Department received “20-plus” calls throughout the storm, and 30 to 40 calls regarding storm-related damage on Sept. 14, in the aftermath of the storm, as of late afternoon.

“Anytime trees fall and end up on power lines or when people see power lines lying on the ground, they call us for those things,” he said.

The city of Lyndhurst has some very mature trees that are prone to toppling over or having branches that crack and fall onto power lines, he added.

Procop said the north side of Lyndhurst, stretching from Ridgebury Boulevard to Mayfield Road, seemed to have gotten hit the hardest. He also heard reports that the cities of Mayfield Heights, Pepper Pike and Beachwood took a pounding during the storm.

The captain said Lyndhurst Fire Department received no reports of injuries that occurred because of the storm.

However, the storm did knock out electric service to thousands of FirstEnergy customers in the region. As of 8:30 p.m. Sept. 14, FirstEnergy reported that about 17,100 customers were still without power.

PHOTOS BY MARK PODOLSKI — THE NEWS-HERALD Severe storms that swept through the region on the night of Sept. 13 and early morning Sept. 14 uprooted this tree near Dr. Trista’s Children’s Dentistry on Mayfield Road in Lyndhurst.

A sign outside of the Lyndhurst Childhood Enrichment Center on Mayfield Road in Lyndhurst was battered by severe storms that swept through the region on the night of Sept. 13 and early morning Sept. 14.