Ohio River crests to highest point in 20 years

Associated Press

Heavy rains overnight have sent the swollen Ohio River at Cincinnati to its highest point in 20 years with the river expected to remain above flood stage through the end of the week, a National Weather Service meteorologist said Sunday.

Between 1.5 and 2.5 inches of rain fell across the region from Saturday night into early Sunday morning accompanied by damaging high winds and an unconfirmed report of a tornado in Brown County.

Meteorologist Kristen Cassady said the Ohio River reached 60 feet Sunday morning at its Cincinnati recording station, 8 feet above flood stage, and could reach 60.6 feet sometime Sunday. It would be the highest recordings since 1997, when the river reached 64.7 feet (19.7 meters).

The Cincinnati Enquirer has reported Cincinnati police had to rescue numerous drivers whose vehicles became trapped in flood waters.

Local streams and rivers overflowing their banks have caused road closings throughout central and southern Ohio.

Republican Gov. John Kasich issued an emergency declaration Saturday in 17 southern and eastern counties, including Columbiana County.

Kasich in a briefing Sunday at the state’s emergency operations center said preparations by local and state officials ahead of heavy rains and expected flooding helped Ohio “dodge a bullet” with no loss of life reported to this point.

Kasich pointed to his order five days ago to activate 40 soldiers from an Ohio National Guard engineering company to raise floodgates along the Ohio River in Portsmouth.

The Ohio River is expected to begin slowly receding Sunday, but will likely to remain above flood stage until the end of the week, fed by its numerous tributaries, Cassady said.

“The good news is the rain is done and we’ll have a couple of dry days for that water to recede,” she said.

Another weather system is expected to bring rain during the middle of the week.