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Lucas County Officials Declare State of Emergency As Residents Mop Up

Posted on: Sunday, 25 June 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Jennifer Feehan, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio

Jun. 24--After two days of hard rains that battered parts of northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan and caused damage likely to total in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, residents began the long process of drying out and cleaning up yesterday.

"Things are as stable as we can get them right now. Of course, the person with the collapsed home isn't going to agree with that," said Bill Ommert, director of the Huron County Emergency Management Agency.

Lucas County commissioners declared a state of emergency yesterday, joining their counterparts in Ottawa, Huron, Allen, Van Wert, and Wyandot counties, who made disaster declarations Thursday. The formal declarations are the first step in helping to bring state and federal funding to the area, said Tina Skeldon Wozniak, Lucas County board of commissioners president.

In Norwalk, the city's reservoir overflowed the spillway into Norwalk Creek, causing flooding that sent up to 12 feet in low-lying areas. One home was destroyed by the onslaught of rain, while 30 to 35 others are "in pretty bad shape," Mr. Ommert said.

He estimated that damages in Huron County would exceed $7 million, including losses to businesses and homes as well as agricultural fields that were left under water.

Gov. Bob Taft is scheduled to tour flooded areas in Huron and Erie counties today to survey the damage. The governor has planned stops in Norwalk, Milan Township, and Perkins Township.

To the west, officials in Van Wert and Allen counties were still cleaning up debris yesterday from the strong winds that accompanied thunderstorms that struck Thursday afternoon.

To the west, officials in Van Wert and Allen counties were still cleaning up debris yesterday from the strong winds that accompanied thunderstorms that struck Thursday afternoon.

National Weather Service officials who visited the most heavily damaged areas around the villages of Willshire and Ohio City confirmed yesterday that three tornadoes and one "gustnado" touched down in Van Wert County between 2:40 a.m. and 3 p.m. Thursday.

The three tornadoes wiped out barns, according to Rick McCoy, Van Wert County's Emergency Management Agency director, while the gustnado -- a tornado that forms on the leading edge of a thunderstorm cell rather than within it -- touched down in an open field near the Van Wert-Mercer County line.

"We've got hundreds and hundreds of trees down across the county," he said, adding that numerous barns, homes, and grain silos also were damaged.

Todd Holsten, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Northern Indiana office, said tornadoes were not to blame for the damage in and around Lima, which included: roofs blown off two hotels, about 20 power poles felled along a one-mile stretch of Shawnee Road, and a hangar at the Allen County airport that collapsed and damaged a county sheriff's helicopter and several airplanes.

Instead, Mr. Holsten said the damage was caused by a macro burst wind that began in western Indiana and traveled about 150 miles through Lima.

Some areas were still struggling to get along without electricity in the wake of the storms, including nearly 18,000 American Electric Power customers in Lima alone. Rhodes State Community College and Ohio State University at Lima, which share a campus, were closed yesterday because of the lack of power. Toledo Edison said about 300 customers were without power in the Toledo metropolitan area should have their power restored by early today.

The good news yesterday was that the area stayed mostly dry. The National Weather Service in Cleveland reported trace amounts of rain from isolated storms that moved through northwest Ohio yesterday, but the forecast looked relatively dry at least through the weekend.

"We're starting to dry out," said Dave Wagner, a dispatcher with the Erie County Sheriff's Office in Sandusky. "The guys are taking down a lot of the [road closed] signs."

In nearby Ottawa County, only State Rt. 19 near the Ottawa-Sandusky County line remained closed because of high water by late afternoon yesterday, said James Greer, Ottawa County emergency management director. Three Port Clinton residents whose apartments were flooded were being housed at a hotel by the local American Red Cross chapter, he said, adding that the rest of the problems related to water in basements.

"It could've been a lot of worse. I have not heard of a single injury," Mr. Greer said.

Norwalk Mayor Sue Lesch said she met with business owners along Water Street and Benedict Avenue who were pumping water and shoveling mud out of their buildings yesterday. The city planned to offer unlimited pickup of trash and tree limbs to help affected residents.

"With flooding, you've got mud and you've got mess," she said. "Right now, they're just trying to see what's salvageable and throw out the rest," she said.

Lucas County emergency management officials assessed damage throughout the Toledo area yesterday, adding that at least 200 homeowners throughout the county have called to say that they experienced flooding. Bill Halsey, director of Lucas County Emergency Management Agency, said he expects many more residents to call.

Mr. Halsey added that a team from the state's Emergency Management Agency is expected to arrive soon to begin assessing the damage.

The county must have 25 residences that were significantly damaged by the storms before the state can declare the county a disaster area.

Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner pledged to concentrate more services in the areas hardest hit during the storms for the next two weeks, including extra trash pickup, building inspections, and mosquito spraying. The mayor has also called on residents throughout the city, including his own staff, to volunteer time today to help clean up flooded homes.

Command centers will be established in North Toledo at Crawford Street and Bennett Road and at Fire Station 14 at 1655 North Reynolds Rd. Volunteers are asked to bring rubber gloves and check in at one of the command centers. The clean-up effort will take place between 9 a.m. and noon today.

The city also asks residents to keep their cars off the streets as much as possible to make way for street cleaning crews.

While city and county officials continue to survey the damage, social service agencies have opened their phone lines to those seeking help. Yesterday, representatives from the United Way of Greater Toledo, the Toledo Area Chapter of the Red Cross, and Lucas County Job and Family Services said residents -- needing items such as clothing or cleaning supplies -- should contact the agencies through 2-1-1.

The American Red Cross declared the flooding a national disaster, allowing the local chapter to tap into national funds, said spokesman Kristen Cajka. A national disaster response is declared when the organization estimates that it will spend more than $10,000 in relief efforts.

The local chapter kept an emergency shelter open last night at Toledo Public School's Start High School, 2100 Tremainsville Rd.

Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro warned Ohioans yesterday "to be cautious of home improvement contractors trying to scam homeowners during their time of need."

Citing charity scams and price gouging as some of the scams that may surface, Mr. Petro cautioned homeowners to be cautious, receive written estimates, and thoroughly read contracts.

The Ohio Attorney General's Consumer Protection Section can be reached at 1-800-282-0515 or 614-466-4986.

Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-353-5972.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Blade, Toledo, Ohio

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Blade

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