While most of northeast Ohio was pummelled by Hurricane Sandy, the Mahoning Valley escaped with minimal damage.
About 3,000 homes and businesses were without power, mostly in Cortland and Mecca Township in Trumbull County and Salem in Columbiana County.
In Mahoning County, crews were at work early Tuesday clearing downed utility lines that blocked Shields Road between Dorado Beach Drive and Tippecanoe in Canfield.
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Tribune Chronicle / R. Michael Semple
The Warren City Fire Department checks on a car abandoned Tuesday morning in a flooded section of South Pine Street. “Road closed” signs were posted.
High wind warnings that were in effect for the past two days expired late Tuesday.
The effects of three days of nearly constant rain began to take their toll. In Warren, a dip along Pine Avenue S.W. filled with water and prompted a motorist to abandon a car. Police and fire crews were called to remove the vehicle.
According to the National Weather Service, the area received more than 2 inches of rain in the last four days; there is a 100 percent chance of rain in the forecast today.
All that rain has had an effect on area rivers, creeks and reservoirs. The Mahoning River in Leavittsburg rose 1.13 inches to 7.71 feet between Monday night and Tuesday night; flood stage is 10 feet.
Mosquito Creek Reservoir in Bazetta - a victim of the summer drought conditions - regained some of its lost water, rising 0.31 inches to 896.11 feet above sea level.
Berlin Reservoir rose 2.59 inches to 1013.15 feet above sea level, and Lake Milton rose a half-inch to 1842.88 feet above sea level.
Further north, Mother Nature wasn't as helpful.
Waves from Lake Erie washed across a low-lying section of Interstate 90 near downtown Cleveland, shutting down the freeway Tuesday morning. Howling winds along the lake peeled off part of the siding at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.
At least 250,000 homes and businesses - the majority in the Cleveland area - were without power at one point. Scattered outages reached down into central and eastern Ohio, with some in the southern part of the state. Utilities said it could be days before it's fully restored.
Neighborhoods along the Cleveland-Parma corridor of neat bungalows were littered with toppled branches and trees. Firefighters came out to remove a dangling phone line from 29-year-old DeWayne Anders' backyard, and he came to the rescue of an elderly neighbor whose electric garage door opener lacked power.
Around midday Tuesday, Sandy was about 120 miles east of Pittsburgh, pushing westward with winds of 45 mph, and was expected to turn toward New York State on Tuesday night. Although weakening as it goes, the storm will continue to bring heavy rain and flooding, said Daniel Brown of the National Hurricane Center in Miami.