Seven Hills sees tornado-like damage from thunderstorm-produced microburst Thursday

SEVEN HILLS, Ohio (WOIO) - A pop-up thunderstorm in Seven Hills was strong enough to generate what meteorologists call a microburst on Thursday night.

A microburst is a column of sinking air that rushes out of a thunderstorm.

It is very localized and can produce just as much damage as a small tornado.

The winds in a microburst can easily be over 70 mph.

It is very sudden and it often happens during the summer months.

An ordinary, garden variety thunderstorm, can all of a sudden cause damage in a small area.

Northeast Ohio was not under any severe risk area yesterday.

A perfect example where you should never let your guard down during any thunderstorm.

The National Weather Service said it hit around 8:10 p.m.

At least a dozen trees and large tree limbs fell, according to NWS.

NWS said four trees fell on Pasadena Drive, including one on a back deck porch.

A down limb also caused a brief spark and fire on a power line, according to NWS.

Another tree fell onto a home on Alla Drive. Sommerset Lane was one of the worst hit areas. A giant tree was uprooted from the ground and a light pole was split in half, leaving may without power.

Fire Chief Jamie Meklemburg said about 800 customers were left without power in the county and about 575 of those were in Seven Hills

Meklemburg said “we have trees that have been snapped off at the top telephone poles snapped off transformers down several trees went into people’s homes, just wires down all over the city. it’s been chaos since about 8 o’clock last night.”

He said between around 8-11 pm his department, with the help of Parma and Brooklyn Heights responded to about 30 calls. “The one thing I’m incredibly grateful for is, with all this damage we didn’t see one person get hurt last night. Nobody got killed, nobody got injured, so the destruction is terrible for people’s homes I understand, but at least nobody died.”

Bonroi Drive, Chestnut Road, Crossview Road, Glenella Drive, and Karen Drive also had more down limbs and trees, according to NWS.

NWS said one of the down tree limbs on Chestnut Road fell on a house west of Crossview.

A large limb also fell on a house and fence on Crossview Road north of Chestnut Road.

Those properties experienced minor damage, according to NWS.

NWS said some uprooted trees appear to be two-feet in diameter.

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