Staff photo / Bob Coupland A section of the roof and siding of River Gate High School on East Market Street was torn off and blown across the parking lot as Warren Fire Department and Ohio Edison crews were called out Sunday afternoon following a severe thunderstorm with strong winds and heavy rain.

WARREN — While most of Sunday was sunny with clear skies, by late afternoon skies turned dark and severe thunderstorms came through, leaving damage throughout the area.

While most of the damage was downed trees and powerlines, a building also was damaged near downtown Warren.

A section of the 1100 block of East Market Street had wires down across the road and parts of buildings and other debris in parking lots and on the road.

The Warren fire and police departments were out answering calls, as were Ohio Edison crews as electric wires were down on East Market Street and nearby Charles and Logan avenues.

Resident Jade Walker, who lives on Charles Avenue SE, said there was “a big gust of wind” and heavy rain going through.

“I saw a large dumpster at River Gate High School that got blown over and then parts of the roof were blown off and went flying across the street and hit a store. There was a tree on the street that broke and fell over,” Walker said.

She said River Gate High School moved to its new location not too long ago after previously being located at the corner of Elm Road and Franklin Street SE, near the Tribune Chronicle.

Workers could be seen at Franklin Healthcare getting glass and other debris out of the parking lot as a large window was broken out at the front of the building. Walker said a lot of tree limbs and branches were across yards and the road.

On Logan Avenue SE, a large tree fell over into a yard and onto a large front porch.

A Warren Fire Department spokesman said the evening was hectic, with many calls including at Franklin Healthcare, which was hit by flying debris from the high school across the street.

Warren Township Trustee Ed Anthony said he drove through the township and saw damage at the Sky Way Drive-In off North Leavitt Road. He said the movie screens were okay, but there was other damage.

Trumbull County Emergency Management Agency Director John Hickey said he does not believe a tornado went through the area, just very strong straightline winds.

He spoke with Trumbull County 911 dispatchers, who mostly reported calls of trees and wires down. Hickey said he will be in contact with the National Weather Service to see what actually occurred.

A Trumbull 911 spokesman said they received various calls, mostly of trees and power lines across roads, including sections of Durst Colebrook Road in Greene. A tree fell on and took powerlines down on Oak Knoll Avenue NE in Warren.

In Howland, there was a report of a tree that fell on a house in the 3200 block of Woodbine Avenue SE.

In Kinsman, a resident at the corner of Wayland Avenue and Mayburn Barclay Road reported a door to their home was blown off by strong winds. The resident told 911 of seeing a possible rotation in the sky.

Also in Kinsman were several calls of power outages and a tree across Kinsman Pymatuning Road near Webber Cole Road, which was blocking traffic in both lanes.

In Gustavus, there were calls of a tree that fell on power lines causing a transformer to catch fire in the 5100 block of Gardner Barclay Road NE. Ohio Edison was called to the scene.

Ohio Edison reported power was out to more than 867 locations in northeastern Trumbull, mostly in parts of Kinsman and Gustavus. Niles, Warren and Warren Township also had reports of power being out in parts of their communities.

MAHONING COUNTY

In Mahoning County, there were also reports of outages, mostly in Goshen Township and neighboring communities. In Mahoning County, there were less reports of damage as spokespeople at the Boardman and Austintown fire departments reported calls of downed trees and powerlines.

Western Reserve Road between state Routes 534 and 45 was closed Sunday evening because of a large tree blocking the road. Canfield safety crews and Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office deputies were on the scene working to reopen it.