First Place, Team Picture Story - / The Plain Dealer
First Place, Team Picture Story - John Kuntz / The Plain DealerRain of biblical proportions swept across Northeast Ohio twice in 2006, making it one of the worst seasons for flooding in the region's history. In June states of emergency were declared in Lorain and Huron counties and in three cities in Cuyahoga County, where 3,600 homes were damaged. And in July, thunderstorms dropped nearly 10 inches of rain, flooding and devastating areas of Lake County. A business off of East Street in Fairport Harbor is made up of little islands in the flood waters of the Grand River after heavy rains caused major flooding in the area on July 27.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Marvin Fong / The Plain DealerTom VanMeter, in front, and Don Kizys help clean up at Larsen Lumber and Supply in Brecksville on Friday. Wood and other building materials were left scattered when the Chippewa Creek, in the background, flooded the business.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Chuck Crow / The Plain DealerSkye Kellerman, 20, of Geneva, takes pictures of what's left of the Leroy Thompson Road bridge over Phelps Creek in Leroy Township, an area of Lake County that storms and flooding hit hard on July 28. The bridge is among 26 bridges, culverts and roads damaged or destroyed.Skye (cq) Kellerman, age 20, from Geneva, Ohio, stopped to take some pictures of the Leroy-Thompson Rd. bridge in Leroy Twp., Ohio, one of many bridges destroyed in Lake County. Raging waters from Phelps Creek wiped out the bridge last week, leaving a gap in the road of about 30 feet, washed out completely down to the creek. Kellerman is an artist and was taking photos for some future drawings................................Shot at whats left of the Leroy-Thompson Rd. bridge in Leroy Twp., Ohio..Shot on Aug. 1,2006.(Photograph by Chuck Crow/The Plain Dealer)
First Place, Team Picture Story - John Kuntz / The Plain DealerA car plows through the flood waters of the Grand River July 28 at the end of Route 44 at the entrance of the Headlands Beach State Park in a risky maneuver in Fairport.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Dale Omori / The Plain DealerStan Cohara pulls a flatboat carrying his mother, Joyce Harrison, down flooded Frances Drive in Valley View on Friday. Cohara transported his mother to his flooded home so she could help him clean it up.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Thomas Ondrey / The Plain DealerA crew of volunteers pulls to safety the shattered wreck of the Moonfleet, an historic replica steam tender normally moored on the Grand River, but washed by the storm out into Lake Erie on July 29. The volunteers, led by Tom Jackson, front, found the boat two miles east of the river's mouth on a Lake Erie beach and walked its hull back to its dock.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Roadell Hickman / The Plain DealerKate Moore finds a little comfort at Harvey High School, a staging area for the Red Cross and a relief area for Painesville flood victims on July 28. Moore had to evacuate her apartment when more than 10 inches on rain flooded the area.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Thomas Ondrey / The Plain DealerWayne Ferguson of Painesville cleans up the muddy mess left behind by floodwaters in Harbor Lights Coffee House and Restaurant in Fairport Harbor on July 28.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Lynn Ischay / The Plain Dealer"I can't go in there. It's too hard. It hurts too much," cries Deanne Phillipp (right) outside her front door at the flooded Grist Mill apartments in Painesville. It took her an hour to work up the courage to enter her home, two days after flooding hit the area. Neighbor Kathleen Fields, left, tries to comfort Phillipp. Residents of Grist Mill and Mill Creek were allowed back into their homes for an hour to collect what they could, at their own risk.
First Place, Team Picture Story - Marvin Fong / The Plain DealerA tearful and overwhelmed Lorena Diaz sorts through her garage, packed with water-damaged items that never made it inside her new townhouse. Diaz and her two sons moved to Compass South Condominiums in Brecksville last week. "If only I could have kept my sons' baby photos . . . that's all I care about," she said. MARVIN FONG THE PLAIN DEALER Workers at Larsen Lumber and Supply pick up debris at the Brecksville business. Flooding from Chippewa Creek demolished the back lot of the business. MARVIN FONG THE PLAIN DEALER A tearful and overwhelmed Lorena Diaz surveys the damage to her belongings at a condominium in Brecksville after floods swept through the area in June.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - / The Plain Dealer
Second Place, Team Picture Story - Thomas Ondrey / The Plain DealerCleveland police Detective Jonathan "A.J." Schroeder was fatally shot while attempting to arrest an ex-convict wanted for rape on Aug. 30. He was the first Cleveland officer killed in the line of duty in more than six years.The funeral procession for Cleveland police Detective Jonathan "A.J." Schroeder passes beneath a flag hanging from the ladders of two Cleveland fire trucks near St. John Cathedral.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - xx / The Plain DealerPolice line the corner of E. 9th and Superior as the hearse carrying slain Cleveland police officer A.J. Schroeder arrives at St. John's Cathedral.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - DALE OMORI / The Plain DealerPolice officers from throughout the area stand in formation and salute.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - chuck crow / The Plain DealerAn honor guard stands at attention as the hearse leaves after the funeral Mass Wednesday.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - DALE OMORI / The Plain DealerWhite-gloved police officers stand in formation. Officers from throughout the state and as far away as Toronto and Pennsylvania attended the service.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - JOHN KUNTZ / The Plain DealerTwo children salute as the hearse arrives at the church.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - JOHN KUNTZ / The Plain DealerAmy Schroeder, in white, watches as pallbearers carry the casket with the body of her husband into St. John Cathedral.
Second Place, Team Picture Story - JOHN KUNTZ / The Plain DealerCleveland police officers console each other after the funeral Mass.
