Tornado rips across corner of township on Aug. 6

by Sue Serdinak

A storm barreled through Northeast Ohio on Aug. 6 causing massive power outages and structure and tree damage. The national weather service confirmed that an EF-1 tornado touched down in the northeast corner of Richfield Township and moved east into Peninsula. It stayed on the ground for about five minutes, twisted and tore off massive trees on Columbia Road properties.

The twister did not hit the homes but took out power poles causing power and internet outages for three to five days. Summit County assisted with the clean up.

Other parts of the Richfield community experienced very high wind speeds causing trees to be uprooted or broken off.

Barbara Rosene, on Humphrey Road, reported that five large trees from the neighbor’s yard fell on her property. One crashed through the roof of her bedroom, just as she and her son were going into the basement.

Kevin and Nagwa Ahlborg, on West Streetsboro Road, were out of town when a tree fell and took down the power pole near their home, ripping off their electric meter. Their home was without power for five days.

Two days later, on Aug. 8, an evening storm drenched Akron’s Merriman Valley and Cuyahoga Falls with about five inches of rain, causing flash flooding. Several roads were closed.

Local news sources reported that some cars that were parked near the Cuyahoga River were covered with floodwater. ∞

Photo (above): A severe storm blew down five trees onto the home and property of Barbara Rosene. One tree crashed through the roof of her bedroom, as she and her son, Hub, were on their way to the basement.  Photo submitted.

The National Weather Service reported that the extremely high winds on Aug. 6 were registered as an EF-1 tornado in the Northeast section of Richfield Township. Massive trees were twisted and broken off along Columbia Road. Photo courtesy of J. Schall.