by Steve Wiandt

Reporter

Cuyahoga Falls -- There were no reports of serious injury, but the Sept. 14 wind storm caused considerable damage to property, including cars and homes.

A 38-year-old woman from North Carolina was driving a car with three passengers, two of whom were from Akron, traveling east on Bath Road from Keyser Parkway around 7 p.m. Sept. 14, police say, when a large tree limb was blown down by high winds, striking the roof and windshield of the car. No injuries were reported.

In a separate incident also occurring on Sept. 14, an Akron man, 40, was driving a car east on State Road just past Emidio Circle around 10:20 p.m. when a tree fell onto his car's hood and windshield, police say. No injuries were reported.

A tool trailer owned by Quality Masonry Co. of Marion was crushed when a tree fell on it around 8 p.m. behind St. John's Episcopal Church on Second Street. The trailer had been parked on the church's property for about a month as crews renovate masonry work as part of a window replacement project.

Deborah Rankin, the church's pastor, estimated the maple tree was 100 years old. High winds caused the tree trunk to break, revealing a hollow, rotted interior. Although it stood near three churches, the tree did not damage any buildings.

When Christine Stewart, a teacher at Cuyahoga Falls High School, pulled into her driveway at 11th Street around 9:45 p.m., she noticed her garage was leaning to one side. When she got out of her car, she realized a section of the oak tree in her backyard had dropped on top of the garage, cutting it in half.

"I thought, 'Holy Moses!'" Stewart said with a laugh. She said she has insurance and is just glad her car wasn't in the garage when her tree gave way.

Mike Pfahl on Woodward Road said he was watching football when he heard a crash. He said he thought at first it was thunder until he looked out the window and realized it wasn't raining. Pfahl said his next thought was a tree fell on a neighbor's car. Rushing outside, he found one of the two red oaks in his yard had fallen across his gate, the sidewalk, the street and power lines on the other side.

"It left a 3-foot hole," Pfaul said, pointing to where the roots came up out of the ground. He said he was pleased with how quickly the city cleared the street and restored electricity to his block by 8 a.m. the next day.

Jane Haren of Oak Park Boulevard was also watching television in her living room during the storm. "All of a sudden I heard a noise," Haren said. She said it was around 7 or 7:30 p.m. Looking out of her front window, she saw the oak tree in her yard had started to fall, but was stopped by another tree.

"I was sitting in the living room watching the news," said John J. Feltrin, 82, of Cooper Drive. "I heard this tremendous crash -- like a bolt of lightning hit something -- then glass shattering." The sound was a pin oak tree that belonged to next-door neighbor Jim Templeton. The wind had blown it down onto both houses. One of the tree's limbs cut through Feltrin's front porch and into his living room, landing on his couch.

Fortunately he was sitting in the chair. From across the street, Bruce and Michelle Gera saw the tree fall. "I think my husband was over there before the tree was finished falling," Michelle said. Feltrin said he didn't see the limb fall into his living room because he lacks peripheral vision due to a recent stroke. Bruce Gera ran into the house and got Feltrin to safety. Templeton said the tree was about 60 years old.

Feltron stood on the Geras' porch the day after the storm with Michelle Gera and Jim and Gayle Templeton watching crews work to clear away the big tree. He thanked his neighbors for looking out for him. "These are my family," he said, "They're wonderful people."

E-mail: swiandt@recordpub.com

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