AFTER THE STORM Warren Twp. residents leave homes as river spills its banks

The Mahoning River crested this morning at a record 17.1 feet.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
LEAVITTSBURG -- As the swollen Mahoning River rose to a record level, firefighters were busy evacuating residents of its flood plain by boat from their homes.
Although authorities were urging residents of low-lying areas to evacuate their homes, some of them were initially reluctant to do so, said Warren Township Police Lt. Don Bishop.
"I don't believe they thought it was going to be as bad as it is, but it turned out worse. Now they're ready to go, and the only way out is by boat," Bishop said early Tuesday evening as the river rose to 16 feet.
The river crested at 17.15 feet at 2 a.m. today, said Warren Township Fire Chief Ken Schick. The river had never previously been above 15.5 feet. The evacuations were carried out using Braceville, Brookfield and Newton Falls fire department boats and privately owned boats.
The river was at 17.1 feet at 3 a.m. today, and dropped down to 16.85 feet at 6:45 a.m., Schick said. The river is normally at 13 feet, he said.
"It's still very bad," Schick said. "There are roads and houses you can't get to without a boat."
Areas evacuated
Homes were being evacuated on Meadowbrook Drive, Meadowbrook East, Turner Road, Woodview Circle, Riverview Drive and parts of Bishop Road, the lieutenant said, adding that he didn't know the total number of people who had been evacuated.
William Gregory, assistant Warren Township fire chief, urged residents in low-lying areas to turn off all utilities and get out of their homes.
As the water continued to rise onto roads and into yards and homes, residents and their friends and relatives scrambled to turn off utilities and unplug electric appliances and retrieve valuables from the homes, some of which had already been evacuated.
"It's sentimental," Jim Neer of Howland said of a basket full of items, including framed family photographs, which he carried as he waded through 100 yards of rising water from the home of his mother, Alice Neer, to a parked pickup truck on Pangborn Road. His mother, whose basement was rapidly filling with water, had already left and gone to a relative's house.
"I just hope, if it does get really bad, they do come and give them some relief money," Neer said of flood victims, including his mother and her neighbors.
"We'll pursue that," said Terry Ambrose, Warren Township trustee chairwoman, who said she would seek state and federal disaster assistance for the area.
Red Cross shelter
Meanwhile, the American Red Cross established a shelter in the LaBrae High School gymnasium on West Market Street. The Red Cross was on hand there with food and beverages, home flood cleanup supplies and other disaster assistance. Residents in need of shelter were asked to call the Red Cross at (330) 392-2551. "We're very pleased with how quickly they responded to this, and we're very grateful," Ambrose said of the Red Cross.As of 10 p.m., nobody had taken shelter there for the night, but some people had come in for refreshments and in search of relatives or friends.
Cindy Floyd, an accounting clerk with the Trumbull Chapter of the Red Cross, said the lack of use of the overnight shelter could have resulted from evacuees' being housed temporarily with relatives. Several members and leaders of Boy Scout Troop 112 of Newton Falls arrived to volunteer their assistance at the shelter.