Wicked storm rocks Northeast Ohio, WJ families affected

Virginia Natale, Staff Writer

Walsh Jesuit students were sent into a panic last Sunday night when a powerful storm hit Northeast Ohio. Many in the school community experienced chaos on the home front caused by the storm. Several schools were closed because of the severity of the storm, notably Twinsburg, Nordonia, and Aurora.

WJ families in the Twinsburg and Macedonia areas were hit the hardest.  Humongous trees were blown down onto houses, cars, and other populated areas. Power was lost and families were forced to find other places to stay because their houses were just too cold and uninhabitable.

(photo via City of Twinsburg Facebook page)
Sunday evening’s storm wreaked havoc in places like Twinsburg, pictured here, where hundreds went without electricity for several days.

Talking about her experience, junior Claire Constantino said,“ I was sitting watching the Cowboys game with my family and all of a sudden it sounded like a train went barreling through my backyard. My dad got up and rushed to close the window, but as he was attempting to close it, the screen flew in, and mulch and leaves went all over the house.”

Claire also noted, “Even though it was only roughly 30 seconds of severely high winds, it felt like it lasted an hour. I have never seen my house shake like that and I have never heard such loud wind. Two big pine trees fell on my deck and patio and my neighbors fireplace flew into the middle of my backyard. Thank goodness the power finally came back on. You don’t realize how much you rely on electricity until it’s gone!”

Senior motorist Julia Waltz shared a different traumatic experience. Of her drive home on Sunday night around 8:00, she shared,”It had been raining pretty hard for most of the ride… It was pouring, thundering, and lightning so bad that I could barely see the road. All of the street lights turned off at once. Struggling to keep driving, I slowed down just in time to avoid the huge tree in front of me from crashing down on my car. Instead, it landed right in front of me.”

Additionally, senior Noah Casenhiser related,“I was just sitting at home and all of a sudden I heard the weather warning on the tv, and five minutes later it was like I was surrounded by a full on hurricane. I mean the winds were insane. I could not even see across the street…I went up to my room really quick and heard a loud smash. I looked out my window and all of the sudden, a massive tree in the backyard was gone! I couldn’t believe until we went to check it out and the roots stretched over 18 ft into the air.”