‘A devastating loss’: Tornadoes rip through Cleveland area, thousands impacted in Northeast Ohio (2024)

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Tornadoes slammed through Northeast Ohio late Thursday night, ripping trees from the ground and causing severe damage to buildings and homes.

On Cleveland’s East Side, a tornado, about 150 yards wide, created a path that was nearly a mile long. It began near East 71st Street and Chester Avenue and ended near East 89th Street and Euclid Avenue. The storm hit shortly before midnight.

In Mentor, another tornado passed through and created a path that was nearly 4 miles long.

No one was hurt, officials said.

“It was a pretty significant weather event,” said Brian Mitchell, an official with the National Weather Service in Cleveland. “We didn’t get as much rain as the night before, but the storms were stronger in some areas.”

He said the storms developed in Southeast Michigan on Thursday night and pushed across Lake Erie to Northeast Ohio. At about 11 p.m., a tornado hit Ottawa County and moved into Sandusky County, officials said.

Near midnight, rain and strong winds pounded Cleveland and continued east.

The storms caused widespread power outages, according to FirstEnergy Corp. It said 145,000 customers in Northeast Ohio lost their power overnight, with outages expected to last into next week. More than 50,000 customers in Cuyahoga County lacked electricity Friday afternoon.

The powerful winds jumped off the lake and tore into Cleveland. Winds blew off six windows at the Justice Center downtown. At New Life at Calvary Church on Euclid Avenue, the estimated 110 mph winds peeled off the 143-year-old church’s roof.

Rick Gillespie-Mobley retired as pastor of the church in 2021 but remains active as a pastor emeritus. He went inside the church within an hour of the roof being torn off to survey the damage after receiving a call from the church’s pastor, Kellie Sullivan.

“We’ve never had this kind of destruction,” he said. “We did have some wind damage with the roof a couple of years ago. That’s a new roof. It has only been there about four years, and it was only part of it that we replaced for like $30,000.”

Multiple trees that were planted in honor of war veterans also fell on top of the church, which was set to celebrate its 10th anniversary of merging congregations with another church in the area.

Sullivan met with church leaders at a nearby McDonald’s to discuss the congregation’s plans moving forward. The church is known throughout the community for providing food, clothing and more for those in need.

“Our church has faced major loss, and we praise God that no one was hurt. Please pray for our church as we start to rebuild,” she said.

Cleveland Fire Lt. Michael Norman said he was unaware of any injuries or fatalities from the storms Thursday night that caused damage citywide.

“We’re picking up the pieces,” he said. “We had so many runs coming in between motor vehicle accidents, trees down and wires down. We’re still uncovering a lot of that this morning, but hopefully we’ll get a little break in the action today.”

Gillespie-Mobley said the inside of the church has water inside from the heavy rain that hit the area, too.

The church isn’t alone. The rain Thursday night that hit Cleveland’s East Side followed storms that ripped into the West Side on Wednesday. The storms are the latest in a string of powerful rains that hit the region.

The 3.23 inches of rain Cleveland Hopkins International Airport received Wednesday and Thursday pushed the total for August to 6.29 inches, more than double the normal amount of 2.74 inches through Aug. 24. This comes on the heels of a wet July, when the 6.75 inches for the month far outpaced the normal amount of 3.67 inches.

At New Life, church meetings are canceled, Gillespie-Mobley said. Church members will be notified about Sunday Service and other plans via email and social media.

“We know that God is still in control,” he said. “It’s a devastating loss. But we know we’re gonna go forward from here.”