BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Heavy rain, hail and flooding impacted portions of Western New York on Tuesday, causing widespread damage.
7 News Senior Reporters Eileen Buckley and Maki Becker headed to the Southern Tier on Wednesday and spoke to residents as they began cleanup and repair efforts.
SEVERE WEATHER BRINGS HAIL DAMAGE TO PORTIONS OF CATTARAUGUS COUNTY
Cleanup and repairs are underway after severe thunderstorms brought extreme hail, straight-line winds, and rain to portions of Cattaraugus County on Tuesday.
The storms caused widespread damage to businesses, homes, and vehicles in the Town of Persia and Gowanda. Emergency services are working to assess the extensive damage across the communities.
At the Persia Town Hall, the storm blew out the building's windows. Town of Persia Supervisor John Walgus described the intensity of the storm and the damage to the town building.
"Straight line winds, the hail was golf ball size or more, and it went through the windows up there, and it went straight through the building to the other side, inside the building," Walgus said.
Across the street, outside the Love in the Name of Christ Mission, we spoke with Michael Rice as he swept up debris.
"It's like somebody took golf balls or a hard ball and played baseball with their siding basically," Rice said.
Rice described Tuesday's storm as very unexpected.
WATCH: Severe weather brings hail damage to portions of Cattaraugus County
Throughout the area, vehicles were left filled with damage from the hail.
In Gowanda, Marissa Scritchfield said her brand-new car was pelted by the golf-ball-sized hail, causing plenty of damage. Her home was also damaged in the storm.
"And all of a sudden, I go downstairs, my car, I left my brand new car out in the rain because I figured it was just going to rain. Nope, it was hailing," Scritchfield said.
"It was coming down hard and fast. I got nailed in the head by some hail. I've got a nice goose egg," Scritchfield said.
Other Gowanda residents were also out assessing the damage. Despite the widespread destruction, no one was hurt.
SEVERE WEATHER TEARS ROOF OFF BARN IN ASHFORD
In other portions of the county, a severe storm tore the roof off a barn and brought down trees in several communities.
In Ashford, the roof of Mike Gerwitz's old sawmill, which sits on his 100-acre family homestead, was torn off and left as a crumpled mess.
"Wind apparently just got under the roof and once it gets under there, just right, it just lifted it off and peeled it right off and half this side's gone too," Gerwitz said.
Gerwitz was working nearby when the skies suddenly turned dark on Tuesday afternoon.
"All of a sudden, we could actually see the rain and hail come and very strong winds, Gerwitz said. "And it was blowing hail and rain sideways and the trees…we could see the trees out through the window down at the shop. And we knew something was really coming and it was a lot of, lot of wind."
WATCH: 'We knew something was really coming': Severe weather tears roof off barn in Ashford
Amazingly, no one was hurt, including the cattle.
"Well, I lived, I grew up here and like I said, we had lots of winds. We never had a roof come off before," Gerwitz said.
A few miles away in Machias, the tops of a cluster of trees in Bird Swamp were ripped off. While the damage was not widespread, a cluster of trees was impacted by whatever came through.
Down in West Valley, giant pine trees also came crashing down Tuesday.
Elise McDowell, who lives nearby, stopped to take a look at the aftermath.
"I kind of hunkered down, actually, in my windowless bathroom because I heard a tornado might be coming," McDowell said.
MAN SAVES WOMAN FROM CAR IN FLOODWATERS IN EAST AURORA
What started as heavy rain quickly turned into a dangerous and fast-moving situation Tuesday night, trapping a driver inside her car in rising floodwaters. A Village of East Aurora Department of Public Works employee jumped into action to rescue her.
7 News reporter Jiovanni Lieggi talked to Zach Calleri, who shared his perspective.
WATCH: Split-second rescue: East Aurora DPW worker rescues driver from flooded underpass
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