MENTOR, Ohio — The cleanup continued Monday after multiple tornadoes blew through Northeast Ohio late last week.
"If it would've gone the other way, it would have landed in my bedroom," said Tom Matowitz in Mentor.
Three trees behind Matowitz's home now lay strewn across his backyard. One split in half, thankfully falling away from the house not into it. Now he and his wife said they are waiting for a tree removal service to take it down, worried it may fall as well.
"Of course that whole system is clogged. I mean as far as insurance, the tree services are completely swamped," Matowitz said.
Out-of-state crews have been helping restore power across Northeast Ohio, like in Staci Brown's neighborhood.
"There was a freight train noise and we lost power immediately," Brown said.
Brown told 3News' Bri Buckley that she had to call 911 right as the storm hit because her son was choking. She said first responders couldn't access her home, with fallen trees blocking the streets, so they had to walk up with flashlights and a stretcher.
"It was terrifying for me because I have this one who was choking and I have to get my kids to the basement," Brown said.
She said her neighbors rallied around one another for days without power.
"The most beautiful thing is just watching the neighborhood come together as community," Brown said. "That was really cool."
Thousands were still left in the dark Monday, like Nick Kolasinski's neighborhood in the village of Timberlake.
"The devastation here, three out of the four streets were blocked off with trees," Kolasinski said.
In 32 years of living in his home, he said this is the longest he's ever been without power.
Many in his neighborhood are relying on their back up power source.
"I have a generator so I'm an electrician and it's not a problem. You hear a generator there, there, there, all the way down the street," Kolasinski said.
Previous Reporting:
- Days after EF-1 tornado, many Mentor residents still without power amid storm damage
- Thousands still without power after strong storms hit Northeast Ohio last week: FirstEnergy offering free water, ice to those affected by outages
- Tornado total climbs to 11 in Northeast Ohio: EF-1 twister in Bainbridge latest confirmed from last week's severe storms