The Ohio Fireworks Derecho, was a severe wind event that took place during the evening hours of July 4, 1969. It affected the northern half of the state of Ohio as well as portions of Pennsylvania, southern Michigan, northern West Virginia and extreme southwestern New York. It was one of the numerous events of that type that hit a region in the United States during its national holiday, the others being in 1977, 1980 and 1999.
Event
The event started out during the afternoon hours as a line of thunderstorms developed in southern Michigan. At about 6 p.m., as it reached the southern suburbs of the Detroit Metro area in Lenawee and Monroe counties, it quickly became a major derecho. It entered northwestern Ohio near the Toledo area packingwinds that locally exceeded which downed scores of trees all over the city. Moving at a fairly quick pace, the mesoscale then hit the Sandusky and Cleveland areas creating extensive damage to some of its suburbs, including Lakewood, Rocky River and Linndale. Major damage was also reported over communities right along the Lake Erie shoreline. Winds also peaked near in Cleveland, causing extensive power outages. An F3 tornado was confirmed in Flat Rock, Michigan on the day of this event. At about midnight, after affecting northeastern Ohio and the Pittsburgh area, the storm weakened and dissipated near the borders of Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland.
Aftermath
This derecho event, although short-lived in comparison with other such events, was one of the deadliest ever. Eighteen people were killed in Ohio alone, including seven in Cleveland. Many of them were from toppled trees. At least three people who were watching holiday fireworks from small boats on Lake Erie drowned after being thrown off their boats by the high winds. Over 100 boats were destroyed or flipped over on Lake Erie. There were also injuries reported in western Pennsylvania. In 2009, a temporary exhibit stood in Edgewater Park in Cleveland commemorating the event.
