Photo By Jenny Derringer/C-N Photo

The dog of a Defiance resident was rescued Thursday afternoon by Defiance firefighters. The resident had left the home earlier in the day and returned to find his home along Auglaize Street flooded. Bringing the dog to higher ground are Jason Hoffman (left) and Chris Harrow.

By TODD HELBERG

cnedit@crescent-news.com

Assistant Defiance Fire Chief Peter Schlosser's worry that local flooding would exceed levels predicted by the National Weather Service (NWS) Office were proved correct Thursday night.

While NWS said the Maumee River in Defiance would crest at 16.7 feet Thursday evening, it actually rose to 17.97 feet at 6:15 a.m. today and apparently has crested. Flood stage is 10 feet while 20 feet is called "major" flooding by the NWS.

The Auglaize River at Defiance, which the NWS said Wednesday would go to 25.2 feet, rose to 25.8 feet at 6 p.m. Thursday and crested around 7 a.m. today at 26.33 feet. Flood stage is 21 feet while "major" flood stage is considered by the NWS to be 25 feet.

Schlosser suggested Tuesday afternoon during a meeting of local officials that the NWS predictions might be too low.

Now, local officials are working overtime to deal with all the water, as are some businesses in the downtown area that have closed as well as homeowners -- particularly on Riverside Avenue -- who were pumping water from basements this morning. The Defiance Public Library was sandbagged Thursday and was closed this morning.

But the worst was in the usual spot -- in and around Kingsbury Park. Residents there were forced from their homes, and appear to have significant damage to deal with.

Defiance Fire Capt. Ed Bohn said firefighters assisted in shutting off electric and gas utilities to homes which were evacuated there.

The Defiance Chapter of the American Red Cross has maintained an emergency shelter at Trinity United Methodist Church, 413 E. Second., since Tuesday evening for those evacuated. But only one family on Perry Street affected by basement flooding on Tuesday showed up.

Disaster director Sally Ricker said the shelter would remain open today.

Now that rivers have crested, local officials are beginning to mitigate the damage.

Defiance city and county officials issued a press release at 9:35 a.m. today stating that "until the water recedes considerably, residents are asked not to return to their homes or bypass any posted barricades. The flooding still poses safety and health issues. Manhole covers may have been dislodged during the flooding which pose safety problems. Flood water may contain contaminates, so the public is urged to stay out of affected areas."

In Defiance, those areas were closed to traffic this morning due to high water. They include all of Auglaize Street; most of East Front Street, West Fort Street; Summit Street, south of East Second Street; West First Street, between Perry and Jackson Avenue; Fort Street, between Clinton Street and Jefferson Avenue; and East River Drive at Clinton Street.

In addition, at 9:30 a.m. today, the outside lane of East Second Street, just north of Auglaize Street, was closed. City crews had sandbagged on both sides of Auglaize in an effort to keep East Second Street open.

Riverside Avenue, along the Maumee River, remained open this morning, but was the scene of widespread flooding. A variety of hoses and makeshift apparatus extended from homes there as owners tried to pump out water.

Bohn said these homes had basement flooding.

Most of Riverside Avenue's backyards were flooded this morning as was the city's soccer fields at Riverside Park. River waters had also entered a Defiance City Schools transportation garage on the south end of Riverside Avenue.

Elsewhere in Defiance County, Evansport Road, between Whisler and Russell Road, remained closed at 10 a.m. today, according to Engineer Warren Schlatter, as well as all of Power Dam Road. Many homes along Power Dam were impacted by the flooding.

The only state road still affected this morning was Ohio 424, which remains closed between Carpenter Road and the Florida in Henry County. According to the Ohio Department of Transportation, the water depth on 424 at the Domersville Road exit ramp is 5-6 feet.