River, creeks rise and fall
South Lebanon flood recedes quickly
Friday, April 17, 1998BY KYM LIEBLER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
SOUTH LEBANON -- In 24 hours, this valley village went from dry to flooded to simply soaked.
Residents of a house on Pike Street in South Lebanon move a television to safety as flood waters rise Thursday afternoon.
(Glenn Hartong photo)
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Unrelenting overnight rains caused police to rouse the community's 2,700 residents with predawn sirens, warning them the Little Miami River had surpassed flood stage and was rising.
At 149 North High St., Dorothy Combs, 38, warily eyed the river at sunrise, while her 23-year-old daughter, Patricia Simpson, assessed the usually non-threatening Dry Run Creek as it carpeted her backyard at 113 South High St.
By 10:30 a.m., seven members of the Combs and Simpson families were homeless.
"I don't know what none of us are going to do," Mrs. Combs told American Red Cross volunteer Wendy Comach around 1 p.m. "We lost both our homes."
Dorothy Combs tries to push some of the flood water from her High Street driveway.
(Ernest Coleman photo)
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At noon, the river, which borders Loveland, Hamilton Township, South Lebanon and Morrow in Warren County, had reached 22.6 feet, according to the National Weather Service in Wilmington. Flood stage is 17 feet.
Meanwhile, Dry Run and Turtle creeks -- which flow into the river -- covered parks, yards and cornfields.
About 40 percent of the village -- homes along King Avenue, Mason-Morrow Road, Hobart, High, Broadway, McKinley and Main streets -- was partly underwater by midmorning. Most residents donned fishing waders and stayed home with their children, already on spring break from Kings Local Schools.
"No work today," said Dennis Hoff, 23, who closed Chubbys Pizza on North Main Street at 11 a.m. and gallantly whisked his fiancee, Monica Eves, 20, to dry land. "Clean-up tomorrow."
But as rapidly as water spilled into the village, it receded. By dusk, most people were safe in their homes, adhering to a water boil advisory and contemplating the chore of drying out.
Barbara Giles, public affairs director for the American Red Cross, said the agency will distribute clean-up kits in the saturated village today.
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