From structure fires to falling trees to downed power lines, Niles area emergency crews had a lot to deal with after a short, but powerful thunderstorm blew through the area Wednesday afternoon.

“For a couple hours it had us running all over the place,” said Niles Township Fire Chief Gary Brovold.

Niles resident Katie Flanigan said she was in her kitchen at 809 E. Main Street when she heard lightning strike a tree outside, causing it to crash into her home shortly after 2 p.m.

“I just heard a loud crash,” she said. “We knew it was eventually going to come down.”

Niles Fire Chief Larry Lamb said the tree damaged a gas meter and knocked out power to the apartment complex and a neighboring home at 901 E. Main St.

At around the same time, Niles Township and Niles City fire crews responded to a structure fire at 159 Hatfield Rd. in Niles.

Brovold said there was a fire in the basement.

Niles Township also responded to a call of a tree that fell into a home at 2221 S. 13th St. in Niles. The tree poked a hole in the roof and fell on top of a truck.

In the meantime, Howard Township fire crews were called to a fire at 1091 Carberry Rd.

No injuries were reported in any of the incidents.

City Administrator Ric Huff said the heavy rainfall created so much volume in the city’s storm drains that some of the manhole covers popped off.

“It is pretty common,” he said. “The east side of town sits up on a bluff, so when you get that much water running through the pipes and going down to the bottom of the hill and leveling out it has to go somewhere.”

There were also reports of tree limbs and power lines down throughout

the area.

According to Indiana Michigan Power, more than 3,400 customers were without power in Berrien County and more than 1,200 in Cass County.