Trumbull flooding hits all familiar places, including basements

Staff report

WARREN

The rain-swollen Mahoning River rose to more than 14 feet Friday in Leavittsburg and Youngstown, flooding roadways in all the familiar places in Trumbull County.

Those included the Meadowbrook neighborhood across Leavitt Road from Canoe City MetroPark, the part of Pine Avenue near the former Republic Steel plant and Perkins Park.

The National Weather Service said flooding at Leavittburg is likely to drop below the 10-foot flood stage by this afternoon.

The flooding on Pine produced multiple 911 calls Thursday and Friday from drivers who tried to plow through the high water.

Despite publicity about the problem Thursday, a driver still got stuck at 4:48 p.m. Friday, telling a 911 operator the water had come up to the bottom of her door, and the car had stalled. The 911 center did not have any information on whether first responders were able to do anything to help her.

On Meadowbrook Drive in Leavittsburg, the high water was making it challenging to get out of parts of the neighborhood, but two vehicles passing through water about a foot deep made it through.

John Brown of Warren, president of the Trumbull County MetroParks board, said the high water caused the MetroParks to close two of its parks on the river – Canoe City MetroPark on North Leavitt Road and the Thomas A. Swift MetroPark on Benedict Leavittsburg Road in Braceville.

Paul Clouser, president of National Fire and Water Repair, said his company was overwhelmed with calls for flooding assistance Thursday morning in Howland, Youngstown, Warren, Boardman and Salem.

He’s had five crews working around the clock Thursday and Friday. He said it’s been about 18 months since flooding has been this bad.

Clouser noted that inexpensive water alarms can be a way to alert homeowners of problems before they become severe. The sensor goes in the sump-pump crock, he said.

Another tip is to buy an extra sump pump and keep it in the box. “By the time you go to the store and get back, you could have a couple of inches of water,” he said.