In Ottawa, Ohio, water swirls around homes

Gov. Strickland has declared a state of emergency in nine Ohio counties.

OTTAWA, Ohio (AP) — Don Croy loaded cleaning supplies and bottled water into his motorboat and then floated away.

It was the only way he could get to his house.

Like many in small towns across northern Ohio, this week’s historic flooding has left him living on an island.

While much of the attention has focused on the hard-hit town of Findlay, where rescuers had plucked hundreds of people from their homes, hundreds more were still unable to get home in nearby Ottawa, which was soaked with flood water from the Blanchard River.

About half the down-river town took on water, making it nearly impossible to go from one end to the other.

“We don’t know what the real world’s like,” Croy said Friday. In his house were 3 inches of water that ruined new cherry floors and cabinets that cost $55,000.

He and his neighbor had just picked up supplies from the American Red Cross.

“We’re not forgotten,” said Sam Laibe. “Hopefully all that funding will come down here too.”

Nearly a week of powerful storms, heavy rain and devastating flooding across the upper Midwest has damaged hundreds of homes and has been blamed for at least 17 deaths.

9 counties affected

Flooding stretched across an 80-mile path through Ohio this week, leading Gov. Ted Strickland to declare a state of emergency in nine Ohio counties.

Strickland and other officials flew over three of those counties Thursday.

Flood victims will be eligible for low-interest loans of up to $250,000 through a state program.

The flooding was blamed for two deaths in Ohio. A 92-year-old man died Thursday after his car was trapped in flood waters near Findlay. Earlier in the week, a Mansfield man died after flood water knocked over a gas can, igniting a fire.

Water has receded in Mansfield where the city’s post office lost about 20 of its trucks, and at least 100 homes were flooded. Volunteers and city officials will be mopping up and assessing damage through the end of next week, said Mayor Lydia Reid.

“We’ve got it pretty well under control,” she said.

It was far from over in Ottawa.

No one was allowed within several blocks of downtown where water had reached as high as the front seat of a limousine at a funeral home, said owner Jeff Heitmeyer.

“It’s sad to see how many have water,” he said.

How bad it was

A day earlier, water surrounded homes in at least two-thirds of the town of about 4,300 people, said Fire Chief Ron Brinkman.

Authorities spent much of Friday trying to chase kayakers and other sightseers out of the swirling flood water. “It’s way too treacherous,” he said.

Water that lapped at homes near the river did start to slowly go down a few inches.

“I’ve seen a couple of decks float by, a kid’s basketball pole,” said Mark Knueven. “You sit and watch it go by.”

Diane Deitering, manager of a credit union, was one of the few people able to begin cleaning up her office. She said all the closed roads turned her short drive into a 45-minute detour but believes the worst will come when the water is gone.

“The devastation we haven’t seen yet,” she said.