Colder temps return to Ohio after weekend downpour

12/23/2013

COLUMBUS — A weekend of nonstop rain throughout western Ohio finally came to an end today after swamping roads, basements and fields.

Waterlogged residents began cleaning up in some areas while others still were waiting for floodwaters to recede.

Only a handful of people were forced to leave their homes while authorities on west-central Ohio and the northwest corner reported rescuing motorists who were stranded after trying to drive through flooded roadways. No major injuries were reported.

Many areas got 3 to 5 inches of rain during the weekend, adding to snow on the ground that melted quickly in 50- to 60-degree weather.

“There are quite a few rivers that are flooding, and a lot of lingering flooding in low-lying areas,” said Andrew Snyder, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wilmington.

Forecasters don’t expect much more precipitation as temperatures plummet, but there could be light snow in some areas over the next couple days.

Elected leaders in northwest Ohio along the flood-prone Blanchard River met with U.S. Sen. Rob Portman today, pushing for a solution to what is becoming a routine problem in the Hancock and Putnam counties, about 50 miles south of Toledo.

Flooding in Findlay shutdown dozens of streets and cut its downtown in half on Sunday. Water from the river slowly began receding today and pushing toward the village of Ottawa, where many streets were closed too.

Portman, a Republican from the Cincinnati area, said he plans to push federal officials to speed up work on a flood control plan for the Blanchard River. “This about people’s lives,” he said.

Flooding also left roads closed in nearby Seneca County where a sinkhole closed busy a St. Rte. 4.

Police in Miami County in west-central Ohio rescued several stranded motorists whose cars stalled or were swept off the road by floodwaters.

The Great Miami River flooded north of Dayton in Sidney to west of Cincinnati in Miamitown, as temperatures fell today after spring-like weekend weather.

Scioto River flooding was also reported today in south-central Ohio, with highway stretches and farm fields covered in parts of Delaware County.