SILVER LAKE, Ohio — Residents of Silver Lake are cleaning up after a powerful microburst tore through the small county village over the weekend, toppling trees and damaging homes, fences and cars.
The storm, which moved through Saturday evening, brought winds of up to 80 miles per hour, according to the Power of 5 Team, which is confident the destruction was caused by a microburst.
One of the hardest-hit areas involved a massive tree that fell from the yard of Thomas Gelonese's childhood home on Oakridge Drive, where his 85-year-old mother still lives. The tree came down next door, damaging two cars and crushing a large section of the roof of a neighboring home, where Gelonese said the neighbors were watching their grandchildren at the time.
"Catastrophic. Couldn't imagine this would happen in a million years. Something that tree — that big," Gelonese said.
Despite the destruction, no one was injured.
"Everyone's grateful, the grace of God that no one got hurt," Gelonese said. "Materialistic things are replaceable, but our lives aren't, so thank God that no one was injured or hurt."
A few doors down, branches from an oak tree damaged the corner of Wendy Benes' home and her fence. Benes said the intensity of the winds made her wonder if a tornado had touched down.
"The winds were just really super strong, and you could kind of hear the cracks and stuff, so I thought it might have been a tornado," Benes said.
Debbie Steel was caught in the storm on her way home from the grocery store.
"The minute I turned onto the boulevard, the wind and rain started, and I thought, I don't think I'm going to make it home today," Steel said.
Steel and her husband, Terry, are among many Silver Lake residents now facing cleanup. Crews spent the day in their backyard on Silver Lake Boulevard cutting up and hauling away part of a 50- to 60-foot oak tree ripped down by the fierce winds Saturday evening.
Terry Steel described the moment the tree came down.
"The wind blew, and then shortly thereafter, boom! And I looked out in the back, and there is [a] big tree in the backyard," he said.
The mayor expects electricity to be restored to those who lost power by the end of Monday. The village will pick up leaves and limbs less than six inches in diameter the week of July 27.
Residents said that, as bad as the microburst was, it could have been worse.
"Actually, the neighborhood has been blessed, too. I mean, because nobody really got hurt. That's the important thing," Benes said.
