The Cincinnati Enquirer
Heavy rains in recent days between Wheeling and Parkersburg, W.Va., are expected to cause the Ohio River to crest at 53 feet in Cincinnati on Friday, 1 foot above flood stage.
Officials at Riverbend Music Center canceled today's Boyz II Men concert because of rising water and said they would continue to monitor river levels to determine the status of Wednesday's Widespread Panic show.
The river's level at Cincinnati was 33.8 feet Monday, according to AccuWeather, and is expected to rise to 39.7 feet today.
The river is expected to inch over flood stage at Portsmouth, Ohio, and Maysville, Ky., on Thursday.
Nationwide, at least 23 people are dead or missing after a weekend of storms in the East and Midwest. Since Friday, 11 people have died in Ohio, three in West Virginia, one in New Hampshire, one in Maryland, one in Wisconsin and three in New York, and Minnesota reported two dead and one missing.
Eleven counties in east-central Ohio were under a flash flood watch until this afternoon.
Ohio declared 24 counties under emergency, including two that were damaged in storms last week. The state will ask President Clinton to declare the counties federal disaster areas, beginning with Washington, Noble, Muskingum and Guernsey counties.
Heavy storms forecast for Monday night and into today in the Cincinnati area are not expected to greatly affect the river stage, according to Mark Tobin, meteorologist with AccuWeather, based in State College, Pa.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
