Strongsville Gets Grant for Hurricane Clean-Up

Strongsville will receive an $87,455 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for costs incurred by Hurricane Sandy last October.

Councilman at large Joe DeMio said he was surprised Strongsville would get federal hurricane relief because "it's very rare" for communities in this area to get such a grant.

"Really, that's a great bonus," DeMio said. "I never would have thought we'd get anything."

But Mayor Tom Perciak said Fire Chief Jeff Branic and Police Chief Jim Kobak went after the grant money when they heard it was available.

Strongsville weathered the effects of the superstorm relatively well, but the chiefs provided documentation of all the costs incurred by cleaning debris -- much in the form of wood from fallen and damaged trees -- from the roads.

Remnants from Hurricane Sandy rolled through town Oct. 29 and 30, leaving homes without power and causing wind damage.

Traffic signals weren't functioning early Oct. 30, and Drake Road was closed when a large tree toppled across the roadway.

The windy, cold and rainy weather caused trick-or-treat to be postponed from Oct. 31 to Nov. 4.