Posted on 01/05/2005 11:57:28 PM PST by First_Salute
I last saw this kind of thing when I was 4 years old, in Cincinnati, where the Ohio River marched halfway up the hill toward the flat, near where Fountain Square is now.
Whatever type of action that municipalities downriver from Cincinnati, would undertake, they ought to start now.
P.S. Weather Underground is the author of the article.
.SHORT TERM (TONIGHT)...
SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS LOW CENTER NEAR FTK. STORM HAS BEEN PRETTY
CLOSE TO GFS DEPICTION STARTING LAST FRIDAY. SHIELD OF PRECIP...
MOSTLY RAIN WITH FREEZING RAIN OVER WEST CENTRAL OHIO...COVERS MOST
OF ILN CWA. HEAVIEST PRECIP EXTENDS FROM SOUTHEAST INDIANA THROUGH
DAY. PRECIP WILL CONTINUE ALL NIGHT UNTIL THE LOW MOVES THROUGH
OHIO. TEMPS HAVE WARMED SLIGHTLY OVER THE PAST FEW HOURS SO IT
LOOKS LIKE PRECIP WILL REMAIN LIQUID TONIGHT WHERE IT IS ALREADY
SO.
ENTIRE AREA IS UNDER A FLOOD WATCH. MANY OF OUR 52 COUNTIES ARE
UNDER FLASH FLOOD OR COUNTY FLOOD WARNINGS. ALMOST ALL RIVER
FORECAST POINTS IN OUR OHIO AND INDIANA COUNTIES ARE EITHER IN FLOOD
OR FORECAST TO FLOOD.
WINTER STORM WARNING CONTINUES IN WEST CENTRAL OHIO WITH A HALF INCH
OF ICE REPORTED ALONG WITH POWER OUTAGES. FLOODING IS ALSO
OCCURRING IN THE SAME LOCATIONS.
ZONE UPDATE ALREADY SENT INCLUDED HIGHER ICE AMOUNTS. REST OF
FORECAST LOOKS GOOD FOR NOW WITH 100 POPS AND STEADY OVERNIGHT TEMPS.
CONIGLIO
Bump.
I am here in Columbus and things are rough for some people. There are pockets of puddles in my yard, but I am on high ground. I have seen that Prospect up in Marion County has had a tough go of it. The same down in Pickaway County.
The areas in Franklin County to watch out for are in the Worthington area, especially portions of Sharon Township. These are areas between State Route 161 and Henderson Rd on the east bank of the Olentangy River. The Olentangy flows into the Scioto River in downtown Columbus. Areas of Franklin Township, on the west bank of the Scioto River, seem to have the most problems right now. Western Franklin County will see problems along the Big Darby Creek.
A big problem is in the older areas of Columbus where the sewer system is clogged up. This is especially a problem in the Ohio State campus area. I drove down Olentangy River Road across from Ohio Stadium and the river was high. I could see the road in that area being closed soon.
I imagine the folks in Pickaway, Ross, Pike, and Scioto are not looking forward to the next couple of days. The Scioto River will be high in these counties.
It is possible the folks along Eastern Avenue in Cincinnati may need to head to higher ground in the next couple days.
We are having our 6th "100-year flood" since 1998 here in SE Ohio. We have had 5 this year, this one now being the fifth. Some say there's a global water shortage, you'd wouldn't believe that after coming here.
This is not your usual flood.
There is at least four times the amount of water coming, more than any event prior to that flood in the 1950's.
For sure. They got the same amount of rain we got and, in a lttle while, all our flood water will descend southward to them.
Fifty years ago, there was nowhere near the amount of river traffic, as there is, now.
Cincinnati, Ohio is the seventh largest port in the United States.
The tonnage on river barges.
The oil and gas and other fluids, pipelines.
All such activity takes place near the shore.
The barges need to be tied up to shore with four times the number of cables.
The pipelines need to be shut down and all heads checked.
There is so much work that needs to be completed, to shut down operations ...
If only five barges get loose, and they pile up at one of the dams / spillways / locks, they can dam up the river.
The barges need very long lines to shore, so that they can rise with the water, instead of pulling away or being pulled under.
On the north shore, that my require closing down the shoreline drive(s); because some lines may have to be run across the road to the north side.
Just reported on WTVN Columbus: 16 Ohio River AEP barges have broken loose and jammed a bridge near Wheeling, WVa. Detours are required and take traffic 30 miles out of their way.
The Muskingum River is expected to crest at 14 to 15 feet sometime tonight, three to 4 feet above flood stage.
The river stood at 12.3 feet early this morning and the trend was rising.
The river last flooded in early September 2002, reaching 11.69 feet, causing only minor damage. However, last January the river climbed to 12.7 feet causing damage or destroying 88 homes and businesses. "
We won't know how bad it's going to be until it happens," said Keith Spare, pubic information officer for the Morgan County Emergency Operations Center. "We're just hoping it doesn't reach as high as they're calling for."
Tom Bragg, of Bragg's Furniture Store, 495 W. Riverside Drive, McConnelsville, was starting to move his inventory to the second floor of the business by 10 a.m. Wednesday.
By 5 p.m. later that day water from the Muskingum River was lapping at his front door.
"We were out of business for two months when this hit us last year," Bragg said. "All we can really do now is watch, wait and monitor the situation."
Last January's flood put about a foot of water on the floor of the business.
By late Wednesday afternoon Bragg said he had moved everything but some large appliances out of the business.
"We'll get those at the last minute," Bragg said.
I guess this is going to get worse before it gets better. I'm kinda lucky, the rain's stopped and I'm on the high end of the water flow so its already beginning to recede. But, Marietta, McConnelsville and other points south will be getting all the water that was up here.
Hope you're safe and dry.
We were planning to travel from Dallas to Aberdeen Ohio (approx. 60 miles east of Cincy, right on the Ohio River) on Jan. 16th. Should we just plan to stay home??
FreepMail me and I'll keep you up to date on the Ohio river water levels.
Bump.
There are many barges that are in marginal shape. When loose, they can "prang" each other and in rushes the water (and/or out, rushes the contents).
Very long lines to shore, are now required, for this kind of flooding. As previously mentioned, that can mean closing roads to traffic, so that the lines can be placed across the road, and secured to higher ground.
It is time to reach out and touch a lot of good anchors.
I've been down there, years ago, when in the military, and the work load is unimaginable. I used to wonder that the news media fail us, in not reporting what life is like on the river.
Many men, who were born into the jobs, have forearms (yeah, forearms) that are as big in diameter as their legs. I was always amazed by the guys who looked like Popeye the Sailor Man, from decades of hauling lines and tote that barge.
Tough people. Many are descendants of the old French-Canadian explorers and early Continental pioneers.
The news media has no idea what it's like. It's too tough for them to venture here and too tough for their imaginations. We accept it as a way of life that has always been. You're right, my father's forearms were huge and Popeye-like. So were his brother's (my uncle).
Anyway the barges were captured and the bridge (recall the old Fort Henry suspension bridge?) was certfied okay for traffic.
The latest: Waters here in SE OHio were receding until about 7PM, and it began to rain again. Weather reports said no rain but now, all bets are off. The rain also continues in points south (SSW) including Marietta, and (Swest) Cincinati. They're getting a triple whammy: Local run-off + our run-off + Ohio River, and the ground was saturated weeks ago---it does not hold any water, all runs off.
You're right. Mooring those barges, which when empty are heavy as lead, takes special knack in this kind of weather: Long lines for depth changes and shorter springer line(s) to keep the damn thing from rockin' & rollin', and drifting away out into the current. Guess that wasn't done with the AEP barges, probably not enough lead time on the flooding.
I predict it will get worse from Marietta down the river to beyond Cincinati and that the flooding will be 12 feet above ohio river flod stage by Tuesday.
River level trend data from the marriettaoh.net website (41.36' as of 6AM):
http://www.mariettaoh.net/Applications/RiverLvl.nsf/River%20Level%20Trend?OpenView
That's about a 16 foot increase in depth from the "normal" of about 25 feet.
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