LOCAL

Storm and high winds rip through Stark County, Glenwood school roof damaged

Kelli Weir
The Repository
A storm burst ripped through Stark County on Saturday afternoon and downed numerous trees and powerlines, such as this tree on Cordelia Avenue SW in North Canton.
  • The storm hit around 12:30 p.m.
  • Trees and power lines are down across the county.
  • Hundreds are without power.

A storm burst and continued gusting winds on Saturday downed trees and utility lines all over Stark County, causing widespread power outages and significant damage.

The roughly 20-minute burst began around 12:30 p.m. with winds gusting up to 45 miles per hour, weather reports show.

Its damage was widespread as the wind ripped off roof shingles and downed trees that pummeled into homes, took off porches and pulled down utility wires. No serious injuries had been reported as of 7 p.m. Saturday.

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A tree at Forest Hill Cemetery in Plain Township toppled over during the storm burst that hit Stark County on Saturday afternoon.

AEP Ohio and Ohio Edison reported hundreds of Stark County customers still without electricity as of 7 p.m. Saturday. Many of the areas still had yet to be evaluated and no update on when power could be restored was available.

Some of the areas with the most customers without power were Perry Township, Plain Township, Lawrence Township, Navarre; Beach City and North Canton.

In Plain Township, a portion of Glenwood Intermediate School’s roof ripped off during the storm. Plain Local Superintendent Brent May said a structural engineer from Pittsburgh will evaluate the entire school building on Sunday to determine whether classes will be impacted next week.

A semi-truck was blown over and landed on its side in a southbound lane on Interstate 77 near Mount Pleasant Street. The truck had left the highway by 4 p.m. Saturday. No further information was available.

Numerous roads were closed throughout the day until utility workers could move the power lines off the road. Traffic lights also were affected.

A large pine tree in Massillon fell onto Danielle Henderson's front porch, ripping her power lines and box from the house.

The outages come roughly three days after some residents had their electricity restored due to a wind storm that swept through Stark County a week ago.

Reach the Repository newsroom at newsroom@cantonrep.com .