And there's no rain in the forecast.

"I expect some minor flooding,'' National Weather Service meteorologist Myron Padgett said Monday night.

Employees of the Dayton Public Works Department lift into place a section of structural steel for the gate in the city's floodwall at the end of Fourth Street. (Enquirer photo/PATRICK REDDY)

The Ohio river level at Cincinnati and Covington was 49.7 feet Tuesday, and was expected to crest at 52 feet Wednesday - right at flood stage, Padgett said. At Maysville, the river was at 50.5 feet, just above the 50-foot flood stage, and is expected to crest between 51 and 52 feet today, he said.

A Maysville police dispatcher said the city had not experienced any flooding problems as of Monday night.

There is no rain in the forecast for the next week, Padgett said.

Meanwhile, Ohio Gov. Bob Taft traveled by helicopter Monday to Marietta and Powhatan Point to view flood damage to 400 homes and 400 businesses.

Jeff Secrist, general manager at Mike Fink Restaurant on the Covington riverfront, said he's never seen the water this high in September. He said the entire parking lot at the restaurant is under water.

"We are 5 feet from being on the street," he said.

The Ohio River - at 49.2 feet on Monday - is almost 3 feet short of the flood stage of 52 feet.

Gary Scott, Dayton city administrator, said on Monday that the city was putting up floodgates just as practice.

"We usually do this every five years or so," he said.

Scott said that some streets, including Dodd Road, are under water, but he's not worried that flooding will be widespread.

"It has to get to about 60 feet to get to us," he said.

Ray Clinton said he isn't that worried about flooding either. Clinton is president of the homeowners association at Riverside Terrace, on Riverside Place in Covington.

"It's supposed to crest at 51.9 tomorrow," he said. "For it to reach our building it would have to be 65 feet ... There might be water up near us, but it's not going to get in the building."

Secrist said the only thing that bothers him at the Mike Fink is the debris that comes up along with the river level.

"If people would quit littering, it would look a lot better," he said.

Officials at Riverbend Music Center in Anderson Township on Monday were monitoring the river level - which was up into the seating area - but were holding off on any making any decision regarding the Toby Keith concert scheduled for Thursday.

Flooding was more of a problem upstream from Cincinnati.

Remnants of Hurricane Ivan dumped up to 5.5 inches of rain in eastern Ohio and as much as 10 inches in southwest Pennsylvania on Friday and Saturday, creating flooding on the Ohio along the eastern half of the river.

The river reached its highest level in 40 years in the southeast Ohio city of Marietta before receding Monday and leaving behind inches of mud and muck that had to be removed with snow plows, fire hoses and brushes attached to trucks.

About 400 home and 400 businesses were damaged in Marietta, Mayor Michael Mullen said.

In Powhatan Point, north of Marietta, 75 people had to be rescued by Ohio Department of Natural Resource workers.

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