Water, water everywhere

The valleys have been pounded by rain, but damage varies widely.
VINDICATOR STAFF REPORT
The Kingston family started the week with one swimming pool -- in their back yard.
Tuesday there were two.
Thunderstorms the past three days left the front yard of the Canfield home at 9221 Washingtonville Road with about 18 inches of water in it.
"Somebody said, 'Aren't you going to call someone about it?'" Cindy Kingston said of the flooding.
"I said, 'Who am I going to call, God?' There's not much you can do about it."
Next door, Doris Moore's freshly cut lawn was flooded by overflow from the stream that runs between the properties.
"I woke up to feed the cat and found a lot of water," she said.
Moore, who went without electricity from about 4 p.m. Monday to 4 a.m. Tuesday, said her yard has never flooded this much during her 45 years there.
Only her gravel driveway was spared of standing water, but the same could not be said for her neighbor.
"It's a good thing they [the Kingstons] know where their driveway is 'cause it's all covered, too," Moore said.
Downed trees and power lines, massive puddles across roads and fields and inoperable traffic lights were Tuesday's reminders of the storms that struck
It didn't end there.
Another massive front moved through the area Tuesday evening, bringing more of the same. Most of the damage was in Columbiana County, where sheriff's department dispatchers were too busy to give details Tuesday night.
State Route 172 was closed Tuesday near New Garden in Columbiana County. Traffic was being detoured on U.S. Route 30 to state Route 9 back to New Garden. The road is expected to reopen later this week.
Not counting Tuesday, 1.76 inches of rain has drenched Youngstown region this month, according to National Weather Service statistics. Sixty-five percent of that fell Sunday and Monday.
The NWS is predicting rain of varying intensity through Thursday.
The basement at Ed Moore's Leffingwell Road home in Canfield was one of many flooded in the five-county area.
Power outages created additional grief for people like Moore, who, as a rural resident, relies heavily on electricity to pump well water for drinking, bathing and cooking.
Wary farmers
Farmers are watching the skies with even more interest because flooded fields are putting crops in jeopardy.
Cheryl Haus, owner of Haus Red Apple Orchard & amp; Cider Mill, 6742 W. Calla Road, Green Township, said her farm recorded 3.5 inches of rain during a 12-hour span. Wind and rain knocked down part of the raspberry crop. "I guess it could've been worse," Haus said. "The biggest concern is hail damage to the apple crop."
Hubbard and Liberty townships escaped flooding recorded elsewhere. Kenneth Graben, water and wastewater superintendent for Hubbard, said there has been no flooding in that city.
Tim Monroe, Liberty road department superintendent, said the township has been lucking out because recent storms have been bypassing the community for the most part.
Tom Angelo, director of Warren's Water Pollution Control Department, said the department received only one call Sunday because of flooding.
Flooding depends on weather patterns, Angelo said.
In May 2002, when between a half-inch and three-quarters of an inch fell on Warren in about 20 minutes, flooding plagued the west side.
But last July, when more than an inch of rain fell in about 45 minutes, flooding was mostly confined to the southeast side.
"This year, we've been to some degree lucky because the rain has been constant instead of a large amount in a short time," Angelo said.