Flash flooding caused by incessant rain took a life in the Tristate Monday. A 33-year-old Metamora, Ind., woman was killed early in the day when she was swept down a swollen creek after her vehicle became stuck on a flooded crossing in Franklin County, Ind. Rescuers were able to save her stranded children.

Water gushes from a sewer lid along the ramp from I-75 southbound to the Richwood exit in Boone County. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        Shelia F. Pennington was washed down Yellow Bank Creek by the powerful cur rent after her vehicle became stranded in rising water at a road crossing near Metamora, Indiana conservation officers said.

        A steady rain dumped 2-3 inches in the Tristate over the past several days, swelling creeks, snarling traffic and flooding roads, including Yellow Bank Road where the victim was killed.

        According to witnesses, Ms. Pennington attempted to drive through the low water, got stuck and was swept down the creek when she got out of her vehicle. She was pronounced dead at 9:56 a.m. after her body was lo cated about a half-mile downstream.

        Rescuers used a 40-foot ladder to rescue the two children — 3-year-old Lexis and 18-month-old Kyle — who were stranded in the vehicle. State conservation officers, county sheriff's deputies and members of the Metamora and Brookville fire departments took part in the rescue effort.

        Elsewhere, high water caused numerous temporary road closures Monday, particularly in the central and eastern Hamilton County communities of Colerain, Springfield, Columbia and Anderson townships, said Dave Mathews, a supervisor for the Hamilton County Communications Center.

        The southbound Interstate 75 ramp to Ezzard Charles Drive was temporarily closed Monday morning due to high water, said David Leonard, an ARTIMIS supervisor.

        The constant rain — which has come off-and-on since Wednesday — was the product of a storm system from the Gulf of Mexico, said AccuWeather meteorologist John Dlugoenski.

        Look for sunshine today, with a possible return of wet weather this weekend, he predicted.

        Flash-flood warnings raised anxiety among a handful of residents in Fairfax, fearful that Little Duck Creek would leave its banks and inundate their homes, as often happens.

        Andrea Spritzer recently returned to her Simpson Avenue home, which sustained about $25,000 damage in the summer flood that drowned two next-door neighbors in their basement and damaged 75 homes there.

        “We were up all night last night. Every time it rains we can't sleep. We have to move all of our stuff,” said Ms. Spritzer, 32.

        Fairfax officials said Little Duck Creek rose but didn't spill over its banks.

        Roughly 10 percent of Fairfax's homes are at risk of flooding because they sit on a plain between two steep drops of Little Duck Creek, said Roger Setters, project manager for the Army Corps of Engineers. He likened their loca tion to a “splash block” at the bottom of a downspout or a “ski jump.”

        Officials in Warren County and Northern Kentucky said they received no reports of flooding Monday.

        So far in 2001, 45.59 inches of rain has fallen in the Tristate. That dovetails with the 45.50 inches of rain that fell during the same period last year. Typical rainfall for Greater Cincinnati this time of year is 40.10.

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