The representative from the U.S. Small Business Administration didn't have to look very hard to see the damage last week's storm did to the Liberty Township home of Roger and Linda Doan.

        Their driveway and side yard were filled with salvaged and damaged objects — chairs, doors, cabinets, tables, tools, boxes. A croquet set lay on its side in the muddy grass.

        The large aboveground pool was so severely damaged it had to be removed. Only the pool's deck, with a table and umbrella, remained.

Jamie Shaffner, an assessor for the American Red Cross, inspects storm damage behind James Murphy's Liberty Township home on Tuesday. (Dick Swaim photo) | ZOOM |

        “It basically took half our house,” said Mr. Doan, whose house filled with 5 feet of water.

        William Turner, director of the Butler County Emergency Management Agency, took Chris Lamer, a Small Business Administration construction analyst, and representatives from the Ohio Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross on a 2 1/2-hour tour Tuesday of some of the county's most heavily damaged buildings.

        If the SBA judges the Butler County damage to be severe enough, it will offer low-interest loans and the state will provide emergency assistance funds.

        A decision could come as soon as the end of this week. Mr. Lamer toured Hamilton County on Monday.

        Mr. Turner said he feels confident the SBA will declare the county a disaster area and provide loans because Mr. Lamer cut the tour short.

        “I would expect that in three to seven days, they'll notify us that we're in,” he said. “If (Mr. Lamer) didn't think there was enough damage, he wouldn't have ended the tour early.”

        The group looked at Brook Hollow Apartments in Hamilton, five houses and Gregory Creek Mobile Home Park in Liberty Township.

        Mr. Lamer encouraged the property owners he met with to apply for SBA loans if they become available.

        “We're going to need all the help we can get,” Mrs. Doan told him.

        At the Gregory Creek Mobile Home Park, three mobile homes were knocked off their foundations and 25 others were damaged. Some people had no flood insurance.

        At least 28 apartments at the Brook Hollow complex were damaged. The rain last week overwhelmed the drains outside many basement apartments, leaving apartments with wet carpets and damaged furniture.

        The touring officials discovered a man who was on an oxygen tank still living in a basement apartment with a wet carpet.

        Mr. Turner and Jamie Shaffner, who does damage assessment for the American Red Cross, contacted health officials to help the man.

        Tom and Alryssa Kelly also still had a wet carpet in their basement apartment. They used buckets to bail water out of their apartment after the flood. But the awful odor from the flood remains.

        “It smells like a swamp or a wet dog,” Mr. Kelly said.

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