SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio– After a picture-perfect holiday weekend, Mother Nature unleashed torrential rain and destructive winds on parts of Northeast Ohio, Tuesday afternoon.
Huge trees littered the parking lot after they came crashing down onto vehicles parked in the back lot of the Fairlawn School of Music on North Cleveland-Massillon Road in Bath Township.
“Before we even started the lesson, the students and I just started looking out the window because it got really crazy; it was crazy wind, crazy rain,” said guitar teacher, Jeremey Poparad.
People inside the school said Tuesday afternoon, the intense storm seemed to come out of nowhere.
The office manager said the skies looked ominous, and they had just brought the school mascot, a guinea pig, inside.
“All of a sudden, the lights went out and I looked outside and this hit the cars and I ran upstairs and I just said everybody get away from the window,” said office manager, Zuzu Covert.
“We started seeing some branches fall, like small ones and then a couple large branches fell and then this tree here came down right on top of the van and then two more fell ten seconds later right on top of my car, and then another one fell and crashed right outside the window, so we ran downstairs,” Poparad said.
In nearby Bath Township, several homes had tree limbs and branches fall on them. The family was not home at the time. The woman who lives there said she was shopping inside a store in Fairlawn at the time.
“People started to yell and they said, ‘go into the back of the store,’” said Bath Township resident, Dona Sol. “The storm was so strong, suddenly it lasted maybe a few seconds, but we got scared.”
Despite the powerful winds and downed trees, people are glad no one was hurt.
“Thank God most of the students get dropped off, so no one was in the parking lot,” said music school owner, Kurt Reed.
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