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photo by Jessica St. James
Seven-year-old Nicholas Newcomb takes a sit on a cinder block outside his home located on Township Road 179 Wednesday afternoon. The previous evenings flood removed everything from the Newcomb’s yard from toys, shed, tools, ATV vehicles the family car, caged chickens and much more.
Severe storms deluge county
Forecast calls for more rain and flash floods
Published Thursday, June 18, 2009
IRONTON — Strong storms accompanied by gusty winds and deadly lightning pounded most of Lawrence County Tuesday and early Wednesday resulting in flash floods and extensive damage.
No portion of the county was spared, however hardest hit were homes near Pedro where flash flooding occurred and property on the county’s southwest side.
Jason Franklin, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Charleston, W. Va., said the area has been hit with more than five inches of rain since Friday.
Add that to the 15 inches of rain Lawrence County has seen since the start of spring and the county has received more than 20 inches of rain in the past three months.
“We have seen an extremely wet period during the last month in that area,” Franklin said. For 2009, the county has seen four-and-a-half more inches of rain than its normal average precipitation levels.
High winds ripped apart trees and knocked out power in Franklin Furnace. Water was so deep in areas early Wednesday that certain roads were unable to be passed by automobiles.
Come sunrise, the sound of wind and rain were replaced by the hums of tree removal services surveying the damage.
In Elizabeth Township, surveying the damage was all Mike Newcomb could do.
Newcomb, who lives on Township Road 179, was awoken just after midnight Wednesday to the sounds of rushing water and crashing of equipment and vehicles.
Opening the door to his trailer, Newcomb watched in horror as nearly everything he owned was swept away by the rapidly rising waters of Storms Creek.
“I lost everything I had,” said Newcomb who has lived on the property since 1986. “I never have seen anything like that before here.”
The rapidly moving water was so powerful that it swept away Newcomb’s tool shed and equipment, numerous ATV’s and his 1992 Honda Accord which after the water subsided, was found to be destroyed sitting three feet up in a tree.
The creek was so high that for a time, Newcomb, along with his girlfriend and two sons were trapped in his trailer.
Most of his children’s toys and clothes were also lost.
Adding to the damage was that Newcomb had just dropped the insurance on many of his possessions following being laid off from Empire Metal Recycling.
The city of Ironton hasn’t been spared from the rain and flooding either.
Many residents on the city’s upper south side have had to endure constant basement flooding since a strong storm hit the city last Friday.
Kim Schwab, who lives in the 2400 block of South Tenth St., said flooding from the storms has resulted in more than $5,000 worth of damage to her basement which also serves as a home office.
“The basement is my business and as a result, I can’t operate my business,” said Schwab who added that nearly all contents of the basement were destroyed or had to be thrown away from water damage. “I cried for four days.”
Much of the flooding was caused by a combination of a heavy and quick rainfall along with a combined sewer lines unable to carry the large amount of rainwater produced. Many homes in the area have downspouts still connected to sewer lines – something the city has requested Ironton residents avoid doing.
Schwab indicated homeowners in the area have also been using city sewer lines to dispose of grass clippings which are notorious for clogging sewer lines and causing backups.
The forecast for the rest of the week doesn’t look promising either. The National Weather Service is calling for a slight chance of showers Thursday with heavy rain predicted for Friday and strong storms for Saturday.
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Comments
Posted by theguydowtown (anonymous) on June 18, 2009 at 12:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
From the look of the place through the pictures, the flood might have just cleaned the yard up a bit.
I do however feel sorry for the little kid.
Posted by mikewaller (anonymous) on June 18, 2009 at 2:03 p.m. (Suggest removal)
What a terrible comment. They have lost everything and you have a comment like that.
Posted by theguydowtown (anonymous) on June 18, 2009 at 2:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Did they Mike Waller? It looks like their home is still there, unless that was an optical illusion the guy was sitting on while he was talking on the phone.
What do people expect when you put a singlewide home 10' from a waterway. If he would go out and dredge the creek every now and then from the stuff cluttering it up, the water probably would move downstream. When you dump pieces of culvert and other large items into the creek it is gonna back up if you just leave it in there to dam up the creek when we do get a hard rain.
Posted by howards5 (anonymous) on June 18, 2009 at 5:29 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I would like to vent a little--I live with my grandmother, mother and little sister on the 2500 block of South 11th and it was horrible. My mother's room was in our basement and because of the city's negligence, 2 feet of sewage backed up into her room (the basement of our house). My mother lost everything! This flooding cost her more than $6000 in damages--the city needs to open drains up BEFORE the flooding starts!!!!!!
Posted by ann (anonymous) on June 18, 2009 at 7:19 p.m. (Suggest removal)
theguydowtown.. Here you are bashing these people. First it was the IPS now these people. Don`t you have a heart. Hey IPS guys an evil spirit is at it again. Have a heart. My heart goes out to these people and everyone else that has lost items in the flood.. Stop bashing everyone or cant you help yourself.
Posted by geni1rose (anonymous) on June 18, 2009 at 7:24 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This is a bad thing that happened, I am thankful they are alive and well though. They lost a lot of things that was worked hard for, also the sewerpipe and new insulation had been ripped from underneath the trailer. It will be a little bit harder now for Michael to get these things fixed and get another car for looking for work.There was a lot of damage a lot of work he had to do and everything he had worked for their you cant see feelings in this picture, and how hard it will be getting this all fixed up. This man worked hard for all these things and all the damage done it will be hard to pick up the pieces especially since he just lost his job...and his car.....put yourself in their shoes
Posted by SPO (anonymous) on June 19, 2009 at 5:49 a.m. (Suggest removal)
theguydowtown..doesn't it just make your heart bubble over with pride when you degrade another person or their situation? Have you ever been in a flood or even know someone that has? Devastating, to say the least, you must be demonic. Also, you say that you feel sorry for the little boy, so I take it to mean that you have taken it upon yourself to go help him get through this devastating time. You'd be surprised how you would change your tune if you would go and say "How can I help you?", AND carry thru.
Posted by theguydowtown (anonymous) on June 19, 2009 at 8:07 a.m. (Suggest removal)
SPO- How can I help you?
Posted by theguydowtown (anonymous) on June 19, 2009 at 8:45 a.m. (Suggest removal)
So everyone that feels sorry for them, go give them money.
I retract my statements but I will say this:
If my place looked like that and I called someone to take pictures for the local paper, I want a handout. And the Tribune didnt just stumble on the place.
Posted by ann (anonymous) on June 19, 2009 at 11:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Did you stop and think maybe some of that is because of the flood. Have a heart bud. Oh I forgot yours is black as coal. Have mercy. If you dont have something nice to say then dont say anything. I had relation that lost alot in the flood that lived on the same road. And my heart goes out to them all..
Posted by bornandraisedironton (anonymous) on June 19, 2009 at 5:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
To howards5: Same thing happened to us years ago. We did not realize it was preventable either. All it took was installing a floor drain plug. Twist lock it into position when necessary and that stopped all incoming water. It was well worth the time and energy to install it. No more basement flooding --
I am curious - What makes you think the city has drains to open or close to control this ? Excess rain water simply overpowers the lines during these monsoon downpours.
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