It’s been a particularly rainy summer in southern Ohio.
In August, severe storms destroyed at least 50 homes and businesses and caused major damage to 800 more across 23 central and southern Ohio counties, according to the governor’s office.
Then, just as many recovery efforts were progressing, another round of storms hit southeast Ohio in mid-September, prompting Gov. Mike DeWine to declare a state of emergency in 19 counties.
Josh Camp lives in Morgan County with his family. He says each of the homes on his street suffered profound damage when flood waters rose during the night of Sept. 10.
“We have a steel door in our basement and the water pressure buckled the steel door open,” he said. “We had water up to the rafters – just like two or three inches above the ceiling of the basement. Our main floor was safe, but just by a few inches.”
Some of his neighbors were less fortunate. Steve Redrup, director of the Emergency Management Agency in Morgan County, says some people have been displaced from their homes entirely. He’s been helping people impacted by the storms for weeks.
Redrup joined the Ohio Newsroom to discuss how the region is recovering.
This interview was lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
On the scope of flooding damage in Morgan County
Redrup: Over the last couple of months, we've had several areas of the county impacted by flooding. Morgan County is very resilient and many of our residents have sought shelter with family and friends. We do have residents that have been displaced from their homes due to the flooding. I have one home that you can literally see through. I have another home that the land slid out from underneath the home. It's hanging over the river and it could very well fall into the river. Those are just two of the impacted homes, but we have multiple homes that have six, seven inches of mud in them and they're unlivable.
"We have multiple homes that have six, seven inches of mud in them and they're unlivable."
On how recent storms have impacted recovery efforts
Redrup: Some people spent their life savings repairing their home from the August incident only to have everything re-flooded in September. We have multiple residents that spent more than $10,000 repairing their HVAC systems and water heaters. Things like that were destroyed in the first go-around. They don't have the means to take care of that again, and the resources here at the county level are slim.
On the impact of flash floods
Redrup: These particular incidents we've had over the past six weeks have been mostly flash flooding incidents, not flooding from the Muskingum River. They're unpredictable: One area may be affected and another area in the county might not have any impact at all. The waters come up very quickly and they also go down very quickly, so it's hard for the public to understand the trauma that some of our residents have gone through because, by the time they view it, the flood waters have rescinded.
The trauma is multifaceted. Residents fear for their lives when it's happening. It's very dynamic and it happens very fast. And then their lives are impacted, not only for shelter, but their personal property has been destroyed and damaged and it disrupts their lives.
On Ohioans lending a hand during a crisis
Redrup: The community has come together in many different ways throughout these incidents. I've been blessed to have other agencies from around the state come into my office and assist me in doing assessments and getting help to our residents. Morgan, Muskingum and Perry counties ran the first incident as a tri-county operation and shared our resources. That has allowed residents from all three counties to access help easier. As we move forward our long-term recovery plans are going to be aligned, so that it makes recovery efforts easier for our residents in all three counties.
The biggest needs now are for our displaced people to find long-term shelter. We're working with various organizations trying to get our residents long- term shelter so that they can get back to normalization.