LORAIN, Ohio – Recent storms are packing the punch in the form of high winds, and St. Anthony of Padua was in the path of destruction Monday night.
A large portion of the school’s roof was blown off the building, scattered along East Erie Avenue Tuesday afternoon.
“Right now we see like half the roof on top of a tree and basically St. Anthony’s just lost a roof,” said seventh grade student Matt Nord.
Fox 8 was unable to reach school administrators, who were assessing damage of the school Tuesday.
Parents said so far, the school is expected to be closed for the next couple days, but some worry about the long-term effects of the storm.
“We were just worried about the school and what all had happened to it and what damage has been done,” said Ses Strunk of Lorain. “It’s just really surprising to see all this damage that’s been done. We heard the winds blowing all night and then to come up today and see everything that’s happened. It happens everywhere else, but when it happens right where you’re living, it’s really a surprise.”
Strunk and her family, including her nephews who attend the school, were surveying damage through the county.
She said that students were excused from classes on Monday and as far as she knows, nobody is hurt. She just hopes the school will be able to swiftly clean up the mess and get students back in the classroom.
“We had a lot things planned at the school for Halloween celebrations, and it’s looking pretty bad about things happening,” Strunk said. “But, we hope everything gets cleaned up, we all pull together and get this back together at the school and get our school back and up working again. It’s a wonderful community. Everything will pull together and we’ll get this school running again.”