CLEVELAND — On July 28, 2023, Northeast Ohioans are dealing with a couple of weather issues, including a heat advisory and some severe thunderstorm watches in a few counties.
On this day 30 years ago, our area experienced a devastating windstorm that caused roughly $25 million in damage. The storm hit portions of Cuyahoga, Lake, and Geauga counties.
Here are just a few facts from the National Weather Service, who put together a comprehensive recap that you can see here.
- A series of downbursts produced winds estimated to have reached or exceeded 100 mph
- Thousands of trees were destroyed, and roofs, windows, and vehicles were damaged resulting in $25 million in damage; $15 million of that damage was from storms that hit Euclid
- Power outages lasted up to 10 days, some 300 utility poles and 150 main electrical feeders were destroyed between Cleveland and the Pennsylvania line
- Rural Geauga County residents lost water and resorted to ice and bottled water
- Geauga County also lost the screen at the Mayfield Road Drive-In
- In Euclid, 30,000 trees were lost on public and private property
- A 10-ton monument to war veterans was toppled behind the library
In Euclid, they refer to July 28, 1993 simply as "The Storm." It took six months for the damage in the city to be cleaned up. Things got so bad, then-Mayor David Lynch met with President Bill Clinton to create storm recovery funds after the city was denied assistance from FEMA.
So the moral of the story is, if you think today's weather was rough, just be thankful it's not "The Storm."
