Heavy rains leave township flooded

A retention pond in the North Wickliffe area overflowed.
By JEANNE STARMACK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- The township was trying to recover Friday after flooding caused by Thursday's heavy rainstorms.
Hardest hit, said township administrator Michael Dockry, was the North Wickliffe area, where a retention pond in Resurrection Cemetery on North Raccoon Road overflowed.
Dockry said water got into homes on Idlewood Road, Roanoke Avenue and Westminster Avenue. In some cases where homes don't have basements, water flowed through the homes, he said.
Dockry said the cemetery owns the retention pond, which it built "to be a good neighbor" by keeping storm water from getting into nearby Bear's Den Run too quickly. Dockry said that Thursday, he saw water flowing over the top of the pond.
The pond needs more capacity, he said, but he doesn't know if there is enough room at the site to make it bigger.
Widespread problems
Dockry said calls were coming in from other areas of the township as well.
He said many people reported clogged catch basins, but they may have just been full of water. A catch basin on Fitch Boulevard, he said, was shooting water out a distance of five feet.
"We're looking at all areas as far as what we can do to alleviate the problem," he said.
He said the township is keeping records of all calls and reporting them to Mahoning County. He said people might be eligible for federal money to reimburse them for their losses.
Dockry said people should check their homes' footers to make sure they aren't causing problems, and should check downspouts to make sure they aren't clogged.
Dockry said, however, that there was just an overwhelming amount of water in a short amount of time.