Damage estimates are incomplete in the wake of deadly flash floods that struck the Tristate this week, but road crews and county officials have been working to assess damage and restore services.

        Problems were scattered throughout the region.
       

Hamilton County

        Fairfax, Sharonville, Evendale and Reading were hardest hit by rising water, but the county's Emergency Management Agency said it had not added up damage.

Neighbor Pauline Wilson (right) hugs Debbie Davenport, whose husband, Ronald, and daughter Anna were killed in their Simpson Avenue basement early Wednesday. (Glenn Hartong photo) | ZOOM |

        That is expected to take shape Monday, when staff from the Small Business Administration tour the county to assess losses.

        No shelters were opened, but the American Red Cross opened service centers in Reading and Fairfax.
       

Cincinnati

        The worst damage was on Rosemont Street in Riverside, where rushing water got under the blacktop and pushed it up as much as 4 feet, said Diana Frey, spokeswoman for the city's Department of Public Services.

        There also were three 10-by-15-foot patches on Rosemont where water undermined the street and carried chunks as far away as a quarter-mile to Delhi Pike.

        “It was some big-time water,” Ms. Frey said.City crews cleared and repaired the damage by 6 p.m. Wednesday.

        There was also a guardrail on an overpass at Production Drive over Amberley Creek that had to be replaced, she added, and crews still are clearing drain inlets as part of their regular shifts.

Fairfax village worker Mike Hall uses a high-pressure hose to clean mud off a sidewalk along Simpson Avenue on Friday. | ZOOM |

        On Columbia Parkway, she said, a mud slide left Cinergy with a utility pole to replace but no damage to city property.
       

Butler County

        William R. Turner, director of the emergency management agency, said hundreds of homes, businesses and vehicles were damaged, but it was too early to put a price on the losses.

        However, he said, initial estimates of bridge and road damage approach $1 million.

        No deaths or serious injuries were reported, Mr. Turner said.

        Worst hit were Hamilton and Milford, as well as Lemon, Liberty and West Chester townships.

        At Hamilton's Brook Hollow apartments, he said, 32 families left to stay with families and friends.

        He said it was too simplistic to blame flooding and damage on the county's continuing development, especially on the flood plain. Areas of Butler County were hit by 6 to 8 inches of rain in three hours, he said.

        Mr. Turner said representatives of the Ohio Emergency Management Agency and federal Small Business Administration would tour Butler County on Monday, but it was unclear whether the damage would be bad enough to warrant a temporary office being opened.
       

Clermont County

        On Friday, Clermont County commissioners designated their county a disaster area.

        Spokeswoman Kathy Lehr said early reports indicated more than 200 homes were damaged, largely by flash floods in creeks feeding the Little Miami River, and by high winds that toppled trees onto buildings and businesses.

        Eight roads or bridges remain closed but emergency services have found alternatives, she said.

        But it was too early, she added, for estimates of losses to buildings, roads or bridges.

        Ms. Lehr said local officials hoped to have loss estimates when they meet with the state emergency management agency at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the county communications center, 2279 Clermont Center Dr., in Batavia Township.

        Pat Manger, chief deputy engineer for the county, said it appeared Miami and Franklin townships were hardest hit.

        Mr. Manger said storm sewers are designed to cope with the kind of heavy rain expected once every 10 to 21 years and bridges are built to withstand a flood that might hit every 25 to 50 years.

Warren County

        Frank Young, director of Warren County emergency services, said preliminary estimates found two homes destroyed, 13 with major damage and 85 with minor damage. Most damage was reported in Deerfield and Turtlecreek townships and in Mason, with the worst in Turtlecreek's Shadow Lake Trailer Park.

        Two bridges — on Irwin-Simpson and Davis roads — and three businesses in Deerfield Township sustained minor damage, Mr. Young added.

        He had no dollar estimates but said it probably will not be enough to warrant an emergency declaration. “The areas that got hit got hit very hard,” he said, “but we were on the fringe of the cloud.”

        However, Warren County can qualify for Small Business Administration and other aid if adjoining counties become eligible.
       

Metropolitan Sewer District

        For 22 hours, raw sewage passed through the Sycamore Wastewater Treatment Plant and into Sycamore Creek after the stream inundated the facility and adjoining administrative building.

        Today, the regular daily capacity of 7.4 million gallons is receiving primary treatment before being discharged into the creek and Little Miami Rivers.

        As a result, “It's not a safe place to be,” MSD spokeswoman Ann Newsom said of downstream water.

        She said a flash flood poured 4 or 5 feet of water into the facility and put it out of action at 11:30 p.m. Tuesday.

        By 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, it was running again, with primary treatment: straining out such large waste as wads of toilet paper and shopping carts, letting the rest settle and then treating the water before spilling it into the creek.

        Secondary treatment, in which microbes eat more of the waste before it is discharged, won't begin again until sometime next week. Motors that power blowers for this stage of sewage treatment “are soaking wet and won't run,” she said.

        Ms. Newsom said the preliminary damage estimate was $1.5 million to $2 million.

        Offices at the Sycamore facility were ruined, she said, and it was so muddy that when the Red Cross arrived with sustenance for workers, “We had to clear off a couple folding chairs for them to have somewhere to sit.”
       

County health district

        Spokeswoman Kathy Lordo said no one should swim, play, boat or fish in Sycamore Creek or the Little Miami River below Ohio 126 until MSD fully restores sewage treatment.

        Swallowing polluted water could cause diarrhea, and splashing the water on an open sore could lead to infection, Ms. Lordo said.

American Red Cross

        The Cincinnati chapter opened two service centers to help flood victims: Fairfax Municipal Building, 5903 Hawthorne Ave., and Reading Municipal Building, 1000 Market St. Both are open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and Sunday.

        The same services are available during those hours at the headquarters at 720 Sycamore St. downtown.

        The Red Cross served more than 900 meals to victims, volunteers and Red Cross workers in Hamilton and Clermont counties.

        The chapter also gave out at least 366 cleanup kits to residents of some of the estimated 464 homes affected by the storm in those counties. More kits are available at the service centers.

        Anyone wanting to donate to flood relief is asked to send a check to:

        • American Red Cross, 720 Sycamore St., Cincinnati, OH 45202-2185. Credit card donations are being taken at (800) 255-7070.

        • American Red Cross, 1227 Central Ave., Middletown, OH 45044; (513) 423-9233.

Cinergy

        Spokeswoman Angeline Protogere said a total of 35,000 customers lost power in Southwest Ohio and Northern Kentucky because of the storm. At one point, 25,000 customers were without power.

        Worst hit were Florence, parts of Clermont County and communities along the Little Miami River, Western Hills and Brecon in Sycamore Township, she said.

        Cindi Andrews contributed to this report.
       

Riots on people's minds
Police welcome Ujima visitors
New help promised for area
Communities still counting cost of floods
Floods serve as insurance reminder
Harsh reality sinks in along creek
Freedom Center looks to build identity
Boy, 2, shot twice on Vine St.
Businesses take interest in task force
Hospital diversions increase
Lawsuit accuses police of taking drug suspects' cash
Olympics here? 'Get real'
Smog alert issued for weekend
Tristate A.M. Report
Woodward wheels in motion
Ex-worker charged in robbery at pizza place
Kings considers incremental levy
Plan's goal: Good health
Armstrong presents award
Attorney general says Ohioans wise to telemarketers
State park planned for Middle Bass
$50,000 in stolen clothes seized
Company files request to get area rezoned
Jail workers owed for time
Kentucky News Briefs
Licenses getting new look
Man bares his plan for Ky. nudist camp
One among 10 in crash dies
Ventriloquists throw voices to new stages