MENTOR — Aerial photographs taken from AirTracker 5 on Friday showed the parking lot at the west end of Mentor Headlands Beach State Park resembles something more like a marsh than an actual parking lot.
Pictures show high water came to the edge of the pavilion where the concession stand is located at the beach.
Jon Quisenberry, park and watercraft manager for the Ohio Department of Nature Resources, said Thursday night's heavy rain and high water levels in Lake Erie, couple with high winds, caused the water from the lake to rise over the beach.
"It was an unusual mix of events that contributed to this whole thing," said Quisenberry.
Fortunately, the east side of the park where the amenities and the boardwalk are located at was unaffected.
Crews were seen from AirTracker working in the flooded area. Quisenberry said he doesn't have an exact time frame for when the parking lot will reopen since Northeast Ohio will get hit with another round of heavy rain this weekend.
"We just got to wait and see what Mother Nature does next," he said.
The flooding comes after concerns from Euclid residents of heavy rain and record-high water levels causing erosion to their properties.
In Vermilion, residents also reported high water levels at McGarvey's Landing, where water can be seen covering the pavement in the park and pavilion area.
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