Several areas in Clark County experienced flash flooding Tuesday after severe weather moved through the area overnight.
High water was reported in the Ridgewood Road and Biscayne Drive area early Tuesday morning. Emergency crews were on the scene around 2:52 a.m., according to scanner traffic.
Up to three feet of water was reported in the area, according to dispatch.
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Bob Fritts lives right at that intersection and he said Tuesday’s storm kept him awake at first and then emergency lights did.
“Without a doubt there was water in the yard here, see where the debris is. It happens, not too often but every once in a while with a hard rain,” Fritts said.
The Northridge resident spent the morning picking up the debris.
Construction crews were refilling gravel holes half a mile away on Cheyenne Avenue and Derr Road. Katelyn King was headed home on the street when she hit a hole.
“I turned and go down and my purse flies across the seat onto my lap and I get out of the bump and I feel my tires pop,” King said. “I hear my tire, the rim on the ground rolling. Go back to my house, look at my car, go down to the hole … and it was sunk in … the concrete had gone and sunk.”
That’s because the gravel had washed away.
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“The heavy volume of rain washed away the (gravel) here out because they haven’t paved this section yet,” said Stacey May, with Double Z Construction.
The company has been working on this stretch of the road for the past year and May said the area must be filled first with gravel and later paved.
Heavy rain has hindered work because the gravel keeps getting washed away.
The county received about five inches of rain, Clark County Engineer Johnathan Burr said, which caused several feet of standing water in some areas.
“Everything is full, saturated. Anything that we are going to get is going to make any of the problems we have even worse,” Burr said.
Storms are possible again late Wednesday and there’s a chance for storms Thursday as well, Stormcenter 7 WHIO Chief Meteorologist Eric Elwell said. Highs are expected to be in the 90s on Wednesday.
Most of the water had drained away by Tuesday afternoon, Burr said, but there’s still some field flooding.
“What we get now is going to run off quicker, it’s not going to soak into the ground, which makes it more susceptible to flooding,” Burr said.
Mitchell Road between Crabill and Ridge roads closed Tuesday due to high water, while Ridge Road between the Prime Ohio 2 and Mitchell Road also closed
South Charleston resident Tyler Banion’s home flooded and he had to throw out some old carpeting and children’s toys.
“It came in through the back room, got our garage flooded. I think it came in the front and the back … This is the second time this has happened in the 13 years of living here,” Banion said.
A creek by his home is still high, he said, so they’ve prepared in case more rain comes.
“We’ve lifted up a couple of china hutches, couple of cabinets we want to save for the next one if this happens again,” Banion said.
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