BY CHRISTINE WOLFF
The Cincinnati Enquirer
and The Associated Press
Monty Wolf and son David row along the stage at the Riverbend Music Center as the Ohio River rose Tuesday.
(Ernest Coleman photo)
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Rain that didn't fall where predicted means the Ohio River probably will not flood in Cincinnati during the next few days. While below flood stage, the Ohio still swamped the Riverbend Music Center in Anderson Township on Tuesday,with water reaching about 10 rows up in the pavilion, a spokesman said. It caused postponment of Tuesday's Boyz II Men show.
Today's Widespread Panic and Thursday's Leann Rimes - Bryan White shows also have been postponed.
In Caldwell in Noble County on Tuesday, Gov. George Voinovich met with flood victims to hear about losses that led President Clinton to declare four Ohio counties -- Washington, Noble, Muskingum and Guernsey -- a major disaster area.
The state declared 20 additional counties under emergency and will ask Mr. Clinton to declare them federal disaster areas, too. Four days of severe storms and rain caused thousands of dollars of property damage and left at least 11 dead in central, southern and eastern Ohio.
At least 5,000 Ohioans evacuated from their homes since the storms started still hadn't returned Tuesday, the Ohio Emergency Management Agency said.
Crest forecast lowered
At least 9,000 people were forced from their homes since the storms started Friday, and 23,000 people didn't have power at one point Tuesday.
A revised projection Tuesday lowered the Ohio River's predicted crest in Cincinnati by about 3 feet, dropping it to below flood stage, according to the National Weather Service's Ohio River Forecast Center in Wilmington.
The crest, at 50.5 feet, will come at 2 p.m. Thursday.Flood stage at Cincinnati is 52 feet.
"That's still high for this time of the year," said Joe Heim, a meteorologist at the forecast center.
Rain didn't materialize
Up to 1 1/2 inches of rain had been forecast for Monday over southern Indiana and southern Ohio, but "it fell further south in Kentucky," Mr. Heim said. Southern Ohio received mostly about two-tenths of an inch of rain, with some areas receiving two-thirds of an inch, Mr. Heim said.
Statewide, the homes of about 1,400 families have been damaged or destroyed, according to the American Red Cross. The Red Cross operated 11 shelters in six counties -- Knox, Noble, Washington, Muskingum, Athens and Guernsey -- on Tuesday.
Most of Cambridge, a city of 13,000 in Guernsey County, was under water Tuesday after swollen Wills Creek sent 7 feet of water over a major road through the heart of the downtown shopping district.
