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Good evening. This is a message from Mentor Public Schools. School will be in session for all of our schools tomorrow, Monday, August 28th, per our usual schedules. However, some bus routes are still impacted by the roads that remain closed in town due to the storm damage, and so we are making changes to routing to be able to bus everyone to school safely until roads re-open. If your child(ren)’s bus route is affected by road closures and is being altered for the time being, you will hear from us specifically about that bus route via our Loop communication tool. If your family is experiencing circumstances where you wish to keep your child(ren) home from school, please contact your child’s school office for an excused absence.

We hope everyone is doing okay and our thoughts are with those who’ve experienced storm damage. Thank you to Chief Searles from the Mentor Fire Department, Chief Gunsch from the Mentor Police Department, and all of our first responders and other crews who’ve been working hard around the clock to repair damage and keep everyone safe. Our city officials have asked us all to remain cautious while traveling and to stay clear of any downed power lines that may still be around our community. We look forward to seeing our students in school tomorrow!

Mentor Public Schools will be closed today, Friday, August 25 due to storm damage making travel difficult in the city. Please see the City of Mentor's post below. Thank you to Mentor's emergency responders for working hard overnight in the interest of public safety!

From the CITY OF MENTOR (at 4:30 a.m.):

A tornado warning was issued shortly after midnight in Lake County. Tornado sirens were activated by the Lake County Emergency Management Agency.
Significant storm damage was experienced in the southwest sector of the city generally bounded on the north and south by SR-20 (Mentor Avenue) to SR-84 (Johnnycake Ridge Road) and SR-306 (Broadmoor Road) and SR-615 (Center Street) on the west and east.
A number of city streets are impassable at this time due to downed tree limbs and wires. Mentor Safety Forces teams are currently assessing damage and prioritizing response. Public works crews are focusing on reopening major throughways first before shifting to residential streets.
Major closures at the time of this release include:
Hopkins Road between SR-20 and Chillicothe Road
SR-306 underpass flooded
Mentor schools will be CLOSED on Friday, August 25, 2023.
The Mentor Senior Center, located at 8484 Center Street will be open as a community shelter at 7:00 AM. Water and snacks will be provided.
Mentor safety and public works forces are fully staffed and operating to capacity. All calls for service have been answered.
Power outages are widespread throughout the area. Residents are advised to report all power outages directly to FirstEnergy at 1-888-544-4877 or online at www.outages.firstenergycorp.com.
Treat all downed wires as live. Report downed wires to the Mentor Dispatch non-emergency line at 440-255-1234.
It is unknown at this time if the damage was a result of a tornado touch-down. The National Weather Service will follow up on the severity of the burst.
Additional information will be posted as it becomes available.