Thunderstorms in Lorain, Amherst, fell trees and utility lines

Thunderstorms caused some minor damage across northern Lorain County on Friday. Shortly before 3 p.m., the National Weather Service in Cleveland issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Lorain County with the possibility of dangerous hail and high winds causing significant damage. After the rain and winds came through, multiple utility poles and trees were reported down in Amherst and Lorain, as well as wires down on houses. Assistant Lorain fire Chief Matt Homolya said crews responded to close to 20 calls in a single hour Friday afternoon after the storm blew through Lorain hard and fast. No injuries were reported. The most serious call was for some wires that came down on East Erie Avenue and were sparking alongside a house. No fires were ignited. For firefighters, it was "just a lot of running around," with assistance from Sheffield firefighters to handle the high volume of calls, Homolya said. Ohio Edison crews and Lorain street department employees also responded to clear the downed wires and trees, he said. Shortly before 4 p.m. Friday, the city of Amherst had a power outage affecting "a large portion of the city," Amherst police wrote on Twitter. The city's utilities department was working to fix the issue. Power was mostly restored as of 4:30 p.m. As of 5 p.m. Friday, Ohio Edison reported 9,600 customers across Ohio without power, including between 20 and 100 in eastern Elyria, according to the power company's online outage map. A tree fell in the roadway across from the KFC restaurant at 407 N. Leavitt Road in Amherst on Friday. No one was reported injured. The storm damage appeared to be concentrated on the county's northern end, as the Elyria Fire Department had no major weather-related calls Friday, Chief Carl Mack said. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter.