Neighbors cleaning up damage from heavy rain, flash flooding

CINCINNATI (WKRC) - Neighbors in several Tri-State communities are dealing with the aftermath of major flash flooding on Thursday. On Wednesday night, anyone present would have been wading through water on Ritter Street. EMA officials say it rained five inches in two hours. Water rolled out of creeks and downhill, hours later, homeowners are still cleaning up Seven Mile. Mayor Vivian Gorsuch captured cell phone video of the flash flooding outside her home. Streets and homes were flooded in the blink of an eye. “Everything in their backyard was really bad,” said Gorsuch. The morning after, the waters had receded somewhat, but a lot of front yards had been turned in to small lakes. Firefighters were pumping out basements. Some had water coming up the steps to ground level. Village and county officials were busy itemizing the damage. Ben Johnson's garage and first floor were still under water. “It’s like an in-ground swimming pool,” said Ben Johnson. “It’s a mess.” Johnson remembered the water coming in quickly, he moved quickly to try and save whatever he could. Johnson and his family lost a lot but there was some good news, Alicia Johnson's hens survived the backyard flooding and that did not keep them from doing their jobs. Ben Johnson says it got to him when he saw his boy's things starting to float out of the house. He and others in Seven Mile have no flood insurance. Meanwhile, village officials say they are working on several options to try to keep this from happening again. The bottom line is this: The storm water system can’t keep up with the amount of rain that fell Wednesday night. There were also flooded streets in Hamilton, and high water forced evacuations at a park in Madison Township. Emergency crews say some people also had to be rescued from their cars after they got stranded.