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Center closes after flood victims fail to arrive Despite concerns among Indian Lake area residents that they had no place to turn for housing after last week’s flooding, no one showed up to stay in an emergency shelter the American Red Cross opened and staffed Saturday night. About a dozen volunteers from as far away as Dayton converged Saturday afternoon on Huntsville to open the shelter at the former Tri-County Community Action Center building, which could have housed up to 30 people. The Red Cross put about 25 people in hotel rooms Thursday and Friday and many said they had nowhere to go afterward, Logan County Emergency Management Agency Director Helen Norris said. Red Cross personnel closed down the operation at about 9 a.m. Sunday after no one showed up to stay. Residents were displaced after heavy rains early last week caused waterways to back up throughout northwestern Ohio. By Thursday afternoon, the Great Miami River had crested one to two feet shy of a high water mark set in a 2003 flood that qualified Logan County for a federal disaster declaration. During this flood, nine homes and five businesses were confirmed to have sustained some water damage, Mrs. Norris said. Eight of the homes were in Russells Point and one was in a campground between DeGraff and Quincy. The five businesses included Varment Guard in Russells Point and the four campgrounds. Kathy Gutierrez, who lived in the Riverside Campground home that was flooded, went to the Huntsville shelter to get clothing vouchers to help replace what she and her 15-year-old daughter, Brittany Adams lost in the flood. The mother and daughter have been staying with family in Sidney and Ms. Gutierrez said they don’t plan to return to the home on the river. “Honestly I don’t think I’m going to be able to (return),” she said. “The heater is shot, the walls and floors are damaged and the paneling is bowing.” She said she awoke Thursday to knee-deep water in her house, which eventually rose to about 3 1/2 feet, and lifted up a 500-gallon propane fuel tank. “I tried to put everything important up high, but when I went back, everything was floating,” Ms. Gutierrez said. “I am going to try to relocate anywhere on higher ground. I know when I get another place it won’t be around water.” Cathy Diener and Dave Diener Sr. also stopped by the shelter to pick up cleaning supplies. They and six other family members were evacuated by airboat as water rose up the foundation of their 131 Bristol Circle Drive home on Thursday evening. The rental home, which is built to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood guidelines, escaped damage and the family was able to return Saturday after spending two nights in hotel rooms. Mrs. Diener, whose family is enduring their first experience living in the flood-prone area of Russells Point, said the experience has been a troubling one. “I’ve just been a nervous wreck, period,” she said. “I wasn’t comfortable and couldn’t relax. I had nightmares about being trapped and not being able to get out and we had to put the dog in a boarding house.” Like Ms. Gutierrez, Mrs. Diener said her family plans to look for new living accommodations. “We are looking for a place that is high and dry,” she said. “I don’t think anybody should have these kinds of problems. They (officials) need to do what they can to fix it.” Throughout the day Saturday, volunteers and staff with the Red Cross, EMA and Logan County Health District mobilized to set up the shelter. Carolyn Burns, mass care manager for the Dayton offices of the Red Cross, coordinated the shelter, which had various rooms set up for family sleeping spaces, an activities room, offices and medical and mental health services. Local restaurants also were lined up to provide Saturday’s dinner and the kitchen was available for breakfast, Ms. Burns said. EMA volunteers fielded telephone calls and did damage assessments throughout the day, Mrs. Norris said. |