More intense weather hit NE Ohio overnight — water rescues, a flooded highway and more

SUMMIT COUNTY, Ohio (WJW) – More intense weather hit Northeast Ohio overnight Thursday and into the early hours of Friday.

This comes just days after strong storms swept through the area, bringing at least four tornadoes and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of residents throughout the region.

In Akron, I-76 has reopened after flash flooding forced the highway to close overnight .

Video from the Ohio Department of Transportation around 10:20 p.m. captured vehicles near Summit Road making waves on the interstate as they navigated through high water.

Watch the scene in the video player below:

Summit County was under a flash flood warning until 2 a.m.

In Barberton, several families had to be rescued from their flooded homes. Around 1 a.m. on Friday, the Barberton Fire Department was called to homes in the area of 15th Street Northwest and Shannon Avenue.

Crews helped rescue a woman and her four children. She told FOX 8 the water was up to her knees in her home.

Pictures of the rescue are below :

Another scene in Akron left about 20 cars stuck and then abandoned in mud.

Drivers in the area of Merriman Road and North Portage Pass got stuck after high water receded leaving several inches of a muddy mess. FOX 8 found about 20 cars left in the area and people emptying their belongings from their vehicles.

Drivers in Cuyahoga Falls got stuck in flash flooding as well. One man said it was raining so hard he couldn’t see the high water. And although he was going slow, water washed up over his car.
His car then floated to the side of the road.

“We called 911, and they told us to climb out the windows, and get to safety and abandon the car. They had so many other cars that had the same thing happen to them,” said Ozzie Thomas.

Thomas said the water level was up over the headlights and just below the window. He was able to climb out.

FOX 8 Meteorologist Jenn Harcher said some areas saw more than 6″ of rain overnight.

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