Weather wreaks havoc in area
7/18/2011Temperatures again soared into the 90s on Monday, and if that wasn’t enough, a heavy rainstorm — along with lightning — caused problems throughout the Toledo area in the afternoon.
Lightning struck a South Toledo home Monday afternoon, starting a fire in the upstairs attic.
Marilyn Engel, who lives in the home at 1240 East Beverly Hills Drive, with her son, was home when she heard an “enormous” boom.
About 15 minutes later, smoke started to come through the vents in the home, she said.
She was able to grab her purse, cell phone, and two shirts before she — and a friend who was visiting — ran outside.
Ms. Engel said she tries to get her two cats, but the commotion frightened them.
“I hope they ran into the basement,” she said. “Otherwise the smoke is so heavy they won’t make it.”
Toledo fire fighters were still at the home trying to extinguish hot spots around 5:30 p.m.
Ms. Engel said the fire started around 3:30 or 4 p.m.
Toledo Express Airport reported only 0.05 inches of rain had fallen Monday by 5 p.m., but several weather spotters reported between 1 and 2 inches fell in various locations in the city, including one spotter who reported that 1 2/3 inches of rain fell south of Oregon, according to the National Weather Service.
The lightning and the rain followed a hot, humid morning that caused that the Area Office on Aging of Northwestern Ohio, Inc., to open cooling centers at 10 Toledo-area senior citizens’ facilities to offer relief from high heat and humidity for people who lack air conditioning at home.
Before the storms came through and cooled things off, temperatures hit the low 90s Monday in the Toledo.
The National Weather Service in Cleveland is predicting highs of 95 by Thursday, although local meteorologists are forecasting temperatures as high as 102 Thursday, and remaining at the 100-degree mark through the weekend.
The cooling centers and their locations are:
Margaret Hunt Senior Center, 2121 Garden Lake Pkwy.
Eleanor Kahle Senior Center, 1315 Hillcrest Drive.
Senior Center Inc., 2308 Jefferson Ave.
Mayores Senior Center, 1 Aurora Gonzalez Drive.
East Toledo Family Center, 1020 Varland Ave.
Zablocki Senior Center, 3015 Lagrange St.
Sylvania Senior Center, 7140 West Sylvania Ave., Sylvania.
Community Development Center, 330 Oak Terrace Blvd., Holland.
Maumee Senior Center, 2430 South Detroit Ave.
Hancock Senior Center, 5760 Bayshore Rd., Oregon.