Toledo’s two heaviest rounds of thunder Wednesday showed up in the middle of the night and the middle of the afternoon.

Each left thousands of utility customers without power while felling trees onto vehicles, power lines, and even a few homes. The heaviest rain at Toledo Express Airport, however, fell in between with yet another cluster of thunder that hit just after the morning rush hour.

After the first round blew through Toledo in the early morning hours, William Rough looked outside and all seemed fine at his West Toledo home.

But about an hour later, he heard a tremendous noise as his neighbor’s huge hickory tree crashed down, crushing his beloved 1954 DeSoto Powermaster parked in front of his home in the 3200 block of Douglas Road. The classic car took a direct hit from the tree’s massive trunk, caving the roof in.

“All the king's horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put that one together again,” he said.

That wee-hours weather officially delivered just 0.14 inch at the airport, Toledo’s official reporting station, while the mid-morning bout brought in 0.59 inch. Then came the afternoon edition, which was vigorous but fast-moving and yielded just another 0.13 inch of rain.

But strong, gusty winds brought new headaches for local power companies, with Toledo Edison reporting nearly 10,000 Lucas County customers newly without electricity during the 20 minutes leading up to 4 p.m. That brought its total there to over 15,000, while more than 5,000 were in the dark in Fulton County, and those numbers had only improved by about 1,000 each three hours later.

In Michigan, Detroit Edison and Consumers Energy outage maps also showed power failures scattered throughout their southerly service areas, while the National Weather Service office in White Lake cited a spotter report of a row of trees snapped off by strong wind about 5 miles south of Dundee in Ida Township.

The mayor of Milan, Mich., on the Monroe/Washtenaw county line, declared a local state of emergency Wednesday afternoon because of storm damage that directed residents to stay home “if it safe to do so” and said the city was seeking mutual aid from neighboring communities.

The tree at Mr. Rough’s residence, estimated by removal crews at about 90 feet tall and nearly 100 years old, also clipped the corner of his home and smashed another neighbor’s car. Mr. Rough credits his car’s suspension with preventing the impact from shaking his home.

“The DeSoto cushioned the fall,” he said.

Not far away, city crews were removing downed trees in the 2700 block of Sherbrooke Road, two of which totaled vehicles belonging to DeeDee and Jeff McDonald. The couple said they had been trying for years to get the city to remove the tree in the city easement in front of their home.

“I thank God it fell that way and not on the house,” Mrs. McDonald said.

It fell on Mr. McDonald’s car, which was given to him by his late father. A tree in front of their neighbor’s home also came down, crashing onto Mrs. McDonald’s car. Both trees were rotted out and hollow in the center.

The couple woke up about 2 a.m. as the storm passed through, and Mrs. McDonald said she felt their house shake. Mr. McDonald discovered the damage when he looked out the window soon after. 

“It was so bright outside with the lightning,” Mrs. McDonald said. “It looked like it was daytime at 2 o’clock in the morning.”

The McDonalds are also concerned about another large tree on the corner of their property at Sherbrooke and Christie Street and want it removed too.

Trees and power lines were also down in the vicinity of Upton and Central avenues.

During the afternoon storms, additional instances of fallen trees and wires were reported, and the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority said its telephone service had been disrupted, although the phones for its paratransit operations remained functional.

The city received about 100 calls for service, mostly in West Toledo, beginning at 2:50 a.m., according to Karen Ranney Wolkins, commissioner of parks, recreation, and forestry. She said five forestry crews and two crews from the division of streets, bridges, and harbor are out in the community removing downed trees and clearing streets and sidewalks.

The forestry division regularly receives citizen reports about “risky trees,” Ms. Wolkins said, and assesses them using tree-health criteria developed by the International Society of Arboriculture to decide which trees warrant monitoring or removal.

But a city staffing shortage means tree problems aren’t addressed as quickly as they could be, she said.

"We have about a two-year backlog right now of trees that need to be removed,” Ms. Wolkins said. “We reduced that dramatically in the last year, and we are working right now with the union to find a better process for that backlog."

The city posted to social media asking residents to call Engage Toledo at 419-936-2020 to report a downed city tree or a tree blocking public right-of-way. Reports can also be made through the Engage Toledo app or online at toledo.oh.gov/engage-toledo.

About 2:37 a.m., a tree fell on Upton near Central, taking down the power lines across Central, according to Toledo police. The westbound lanes of Central from Upton and eastbound lanes of Central approaching Upton were then closed for hours because of downed power lines in the crosswalk area.

The storm also contributed to additional collapse of a building façade at 117 Main St. in East Toledo. Neighbors who live in the area on Wednesday pointed to additional bricks on the sidewalk from an upper-story brick façade that partially fell to the sidewalk on Monday, closing Main between Front and First and the businesses and offices on the block.

Staff Writers Mike Sigov and David Patch contributed to this report.

First Published August 11, 2021, 12:53 p.m.