Tornado warnings sound as storm sweeps area

Jim Stover is the last person to leave the field as a storm looms over Rogers High School. Several area high school football games were affected.

Tornado warnings were sounded and a fast-moving thunderstorm swept across northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan last evening, interrupting several high school football season openers and the German-American Festival in Oregon and downing trees and power lines across the region.

The storm brought more not-needed rain. The National Weather Service site at Toledo Express Airport recorded 0.13 of an inch through 10 last night.

Adrian had a little more than a half-inch by 10 p.m., with Findlay and Defiance each receiving a little more than a third of an inch, and 0.11 of an inch reported at Metcalf Field in Wood County's Lake Township.

More rain was expected overnight, forecasters said.

Tornado warnings were issued for Lucas and Fulton counties, but no tornadoes were actually reported.

Severe thunderstorm warnings were issued for Wood, Ottawa, Hancock, and Williams counties in Ohio and Monroe, Lenawee, and Hillsdale counties in Michigan. Wind gusts of up to 65 mph were reported in South Toledo, the weather service said.

The city of Monroe declared a local state of emergency last night because of numerous downed trees and power lines. Authorities were working to clear roads of debris and address the downed power line problem, Deputy Police Chief Thomas Moore said.

At the Rogers High School football stadium, where the Toledo school was playing Anthony Wayne, about 750 people were sent to the school's gym after officials spotted lightning as the teams were warming up.

"It felt like a 20-degree temperature drop," Rogers Principal Tony Brashear said of the changes in the air shortly after 6 p.m.

"Scary-looking clouds" added to the drama that delayed the game's start.

Many other games were delayed, suspended, or rescheduled.

People attending the German-American Festival sought shelter in nearby New Harvest Christian Church and inside several of the festival ground's sturdier buildings, Tim Pecsenye, festival chairman said.

After waiting 20 to 30 minutes for the storm to pass, the festivalgoers returned to the event's traditional merriment, Mr. Pecsenye said.

Across the region, trees were uprooted and branches were scattered by gusty winds.

In Point Place, Joe Cousino said the view from his home looked like a "war zone" with a 60-foot tall tree that fell on a minivan at 127th Street and Ottawa River Road.

"Missed the house, but landed on the road and took out the van," he said.

St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center moved patients into hallways, away from windows, for a time, a spokesman said.

About 23,000 customers were without power as a result of the storm, including 9,500 for Toledo Edison in Lucas and Fulton counties, 5,000 for Detroit Edison in northern Monroe County, and 8,500 in Monroe, Lenawee, and Hillsdale counties.

Staff writer JC Reindl contributed to this report.

Contact Jane Schmucker at:

jschmucker@theblade.com

or 419-724-6050.