Ohio Flood
Authorities say severe weather in Ohio has spawned what forecasters are calling a "100-year flood" in Cleveland and led to a number of water rescues.

Cleveland firefighters say a man was rescued from the basement of an apartment building on the city's East Side. WOIO-TV reports that the man called 911 saying the water was up to his chest. Fire Chief Angelo Calvillo told the station that firefighters broke a window and bent steel bars on the windows to get him out. One firefighter had a minor injury and 10 people were displaced.

Cleveland police say emergency medical personnel took an officer and sergeant to a hospital Saturday night for treatment of exposure after they entered frigid water to aid civilians.

The National Weather Service says the Cuyahoga River in downtown Cleveland is currently at the seventh-highest level recorded. Forecasters say it's considered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to be a 1-percent flood "commonly known as a 100-year flood."

The National Park Service said the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail in Cuyahoga Valley National Park has been closed due to flooding. People were being urged to stay off all park trails pending damage assessments.


Barber Road in Barberton and Norton were closed Saturday night when heavy rains flooded the road. A cellphone alert went out at 9:21 p.m. after another alert had warned hours earlier of the possibility of flash flooding.

Norton sent a cellphone alert at 9:17 p.m. about Barber Road closing.

The road reopened Monday morning. Residents were notified by cellphone alert a little after 9 a.m.

Barberton Mayor William Judge said the city's storm water system worked fairly well, given the amount of rain Barberton received and the flooding to the north.


The mayor said the city has several storm water mitigation projects ready to go.

"But we have to wait for the weather (and now COVID-19) to clear up," he said via email. "So we're moving in a positive direction."

Flood warnings were issued Monday for other Northeast Ohio areas, and police in Parma urged drivers not to go out on the roads except in emergencies due to flooding in the city.



Associated Press