News: More flooding worries for NE Ohio

By Frank Macek, WKYC Web Weather Producer

CLEVELAND -- Another night of heavy rains on Thursday helped to raise river levels again across Northern Ohio.

The National Weather Service says the Greater Cleveland area received 1.07" Thursday into Friday morning.

As a result, many rivers have once again risen to flood stage across Northern Ohio.

On Sunday afternoon, flood warnings continue for the following rivers:

TUSCARAWAS RIVER AT NEW PHILADELPHIA AFFECTING TUSCARAWAS COUNTY
MUSKINGUM RIVER AT COSHOCTON AFFECTING COSHOCTON COUNTY

The latest forecast is always available on WKYC.COM and Weather Plus on cable.

News: Zoarville expected to be cut off by flood waters

By WKYC Web Reporter Kim Wendel

BOLIVAR -- By late Wednesday or Thursday, officials expect the village of Zoarville will be isolated by flooding for traffic and the Interstate 77 interchange at Rt. 212 at Wilkshire Hills will be closed.

Early projections showed that floodwaters will crest sometime next week behind Beach City, Bolivar and Dover dams.

Officials stressed that the Wilkshire Hills region is not expected to be isolated during the event and that Route 800 north of Mineral City also is expected to remain open through the crests.

Residents will be notified of any potential isolation issues through the county's Reverse 911 communication system, in which telephone calls are placed to individual residences, businesses and other locations with official information and warnings.

Tuscarawas County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency officials were sending Reverse 911 telephone messages to residents and businesses in the village of Zoarville to inform them that the village will be isolated by Thursday.

However, firefighters have established a vehicle parking lot and walking path for Zoarville residents along Tusky Valley Road near the railroad tracks.

Firefighters encourage residents to move their vehicles to the parking area and use the walking path.

A Reverse 911 telephone message also was sent to residents and businesses in the Wilkshire Hills region to inform them that the region is expected to have access through the crests.

Trustees in Fairfield, Lawrence and Sandy townships have been monitoring roads for safety and access.

An emergency connection road between North Orchard Road (Tuscarawas County Road 103) and Glen Park Drive (Lawrence Township Road 617) over Bolivar Dam to Gracemont and Sherman Church roads has opened.

Trustees said they will maintain the connection road as needed.

Patty Levengood, director of the Tuscarawas County HS/EMA, announced that her office opened the county's Emergency Operations Center at 1 p.m. Wednesday to assist officials and residents with information and other needs.

The EOC will remain open 24 hours a day until the situation has improved. The EOC can be contacted at (330) 308-6655.

Downstream, increased water levels on the Tuscarawas River prompted New Philadelphia firefighters to issue door-to-door flood warning information to residents along 4th St. Ext. SE and Dogwood Ln. SE.

Road closing information is available by calling the Tuscarawas County HS/EMA Emergency Information Line at (330) 339-7838.

Click on the link below to access the Tuscarawas County Emergency Management Web site.

Residents in the Michael Lane area near Zoar were isolated overnight Tuesday from the rising floodwaters behind Dover Dam.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials said total rainfall overnight Tuesday was around 1 inch in the Bolivar area and less than an inch in the Stark County area, adding to the swollen reservoirs behind Atwood, Beach City, Bolivar and Atwood dams.

VIDEO FEATURE:
To watch video of the flooding today: CLICK HERE

News: Tuscarawas River is rising, residents are worrying

By WKYC Reporter Vic Gideon

ZOAR -- Flood waters have already closed parts of Route 212 and have closed Tuscarawas Valley High School indefinitely and the worst appears yet to come.

Many residents, like those who live in the Cherry Hill development in Zoar, are evacuating as the water has already started to spill over from the Tusc to the entrance of the development.

"I'm sick about it, I'm sick about the fact this is happening again to us in a matter of three years," says Guy Gerry, who's heading to Florida.

Many remember the flooding a little more than three years ago, when it trapped residents. "The water was all the way up the Cherry Hill sign and we couldn't get out at all," says MacKenzie Lauber, who's a middle school student off of school because the road to her school is flooded.

Crews are building an emergency road to make sure 6,000 residents living on higher ground don't get trapped like they did in 2005.

If the Tusc rises two more feet, it will flood the existing road.

"We want to make sure they have this emergency access which is eventually going to become the relocated road," says Bill Huth, who's working on the project for the Lawrence Township trustees.

"I'm worried about just getting out," says resident Dale Bowman, watching the levels of the river. "When you're trapped, you think you belong someplace else."

But others aren't watching. They're leaving.

"We're getting out of here because we see the water level is high," says Gerry.

The emergency road was started Monday and will be done by Thursday, which is the day many expect the road to flood.

VIDEO FEATURE:
To watch Vic's package: CLICK HERE

News: Federal money to help victims of 2006 flood

PAINESVILLE (WKYC) -- Relief is coming for some people in Northeast Ohio who lost their condos in a flood last summer.

(Click on Picture to View More Photos from Last Year's Flooding)

Congressman Steve LaTourette says the city of Painesville will receive a 3 million dollar federal grant so it can buy out the 40 or so owners of the Millstone condominiums and turn the low-lying property into a park.

The residents were driven out in July of last year when up to 10 inches of rain fell in a 16-hour period, pushing the Grand River to nine times its normal level. The buildings were condemned and gutted.

LaTourette says the condo association was underinsured and owners have been in limbo. He says the buyout will allow them to get on with their lives.

News: Blanchard River Flooding Seen from Space

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center was able to capture images by satellite taken before and after the flooding near Findlay. Blanchard River is not typically a river visible from this satellite. But with all of the flooding, it is easily visible in this top image.

Blanchard River had risen to near its record stage on August 22nd. That record flood is 18.5 feet and dates back to 1913. (CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW LARGER)



Photos are courtesy of:

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center &
National Weather Service/Cleveland




To Read More: CLICK HERE

News: Flooding claims second life in Ohio

By Paul Thomas

HANCOCK COUNTY (WKYC) -- A 92-year-old driver, trapped by high water near Findlay, Ohio, died Thursday.

The Hancock County Sheriff's Office received an emergency call for a man in trouble in the water.

Chopper 3 captured the rescue effort on State Route 235 as firefighters tried to resuscitate the man.

In Mansfield, a 74-year-old man died of smoke inhalation after flood waters toppled a gas can in an apartment garage.

The vapors from the gas can sparked the fire after coming into contact with a pilot light on a water heater.

To Watch Video of Paul Thomas in Findlay, CLICK HERE

News: Flooding in Putnam County

By Carrie Young

PUTNAM COUNTY (WKYC) -- The water is still rising and the rain is still falling, making cleanup nearly impossible for people in Hancock and Putnam counties.

The worst could be in Findlay in Hancock county. There they have seen the worst flooding in a century.

In Putnam county, the sheriff has declared a "level 3 emergency." That means only emergency traffic is allowed on the roads. Temporary shelters have been set up and put on standby just in case.



There have been no reports of serious injuries or fatalities.

To Watch Video of Maureen Kyle in Ottawa, CLICK HERE

News: People Returning to Homes, Damage in Findlay

FINDLAY (WKYC) -- People in Findlay are returning today to flood-damaged homes and businesses.

Hancock County Sheriff Michael Heldman says about 200 people remained in a shelter this morning, and Main Street and much of the other roadways near the Blanchard River remained impassable.

But water was receding and hundreds more residents had returned home. Heldman said some homes had a foot or more water.Pumps were running Thursday in businesses and homes across the northwest Ohio city. Governor Ted Strickland says he plans to go out Thursday to see more of the flooding and what it's done. He took a helicopter tour of Findlay, which has been hit by its worst flooding in nearly a century.

News: Flooding in Shelby

By Maureen Kyle

SHELBY -- Flash flooding has closed schools and damaged the police and fire departments in Shelby, Ohio.

The elementary school and middle school were categorized as "destroyed" initially after the flooding. Some sections of the schools are ruined. The middle school gymnasium floor will need to be replaced. It warped nearly a foot during the flooding.

Dozens of volunteers spent the past 24 hours scrubbing and cleaning and pumping water out of the schools.

(Click on the picture to view a photo gallery from Shelby)

"If someone were to see either this facility or that facility last night and then compare it to today and the football field out back, it's night and day literally and figuratively," says Shelby Middle School Principal Tim Tarvin.

Shelby schools plan to open in time for the first day of class on Monday.

However, health crews are still assessing the two buildings and will make the final determination over the next couple days.

To Watch Video of Maureen Kyle in Shelby on 8/22/07: CLICK HERE

News: Flooding in Findlay

FINDLAY (WKYC) -- One resident of Findlay says it now looks as though the northwest Ohio city was built in the middle of a lake.

(Click on the picture to view a photo gallery from Findlay)

The National Weather Service says flooding from the Blanchard River is the worst in almost 100 years, and the river isn't expected to crest until Wednesday afternoon, at about 7 and a-half feet above flood stage.

Governor Strickland began a tour of the region Wednesday afternoon.Images from the air show much of northern Ohio under water after this week's heavy downpours. Record flooding has closed streets, shut down schools and forced at least 500 people to leave their water-filled homes. Strickland says he's thankful that there have been no reports of fatalities or serious injuries.

Channel 3's Dave Summers is in Findlay and tells us that rescuers have now been working 48 hours straight to get flood victims to safety.Currently, rescuers are waiting on about 30 boats to arrive from all over the state to assist in rescue operations.The last major flood in Findlay was in 1923 when the river crested at 18 and a half feet. Most expect the river to crest higher than that this time around.

To Watch Video of Dave Summers in Findlay 8/22/07: CLICK HERE