By TODD HELBERG

cnedit@crescent-news.com

After having had a chance to assess flood damage, local officials now believe nearly 100 properties in and around Defiance were affected.

According to Assistant Fire Chief Pete Schlosser, 89 homes and businesses in Defiance were impacted along with 10 in the county.

Most affected Defiance properties were in the Kingsbury Park area, on Riverside Avenue, on Holgate Avenue and in the northern downtown section. Most of the county properties were along Power Dam Road.

The damage resulted from floodwaters which crested Friday morning at eight feet above flood stage for the Maumee River and 5.3 feet above flood stage for the Auglaize River.

Both of them have receded considerably since then.

At 6:15 a.m. today, the Maumee stood at 11.06 feet while flood stage is 10 feet. The Auglaize was at 14.18 feet at 6:15 a.m., well below flood stage of 21 feet.

As for flooding in Defiance, Schlosser said properties have been assessed according to a state criteria for damage assessment. They include:

-- 11 in the "affected" category, meaning property owners pumped water from basements.

-- 46 in the "minor" category," indicating that they had one to eight feet of water in their basements, or one to two feet on the first floor if they did not have a basement.

-- 24 in the "major" category, meaning more than eight feet of water in their basement, or two to five feet on the first floor of properties without a basement.

-- eight in the "destroyed" category, indicating two feet of water on the first floor in properties with a basement or more than five feet on the first floor of those without one. Despite this category's name, Schlosser said these properties will not need to be torn down and can be rehabilitated.

Schlosser said some residents impacted by the flooding have returned to their homes.

He said the fire department assisted Toledo Edison, Ohio Gas Co. and the city water department over the weekend in restoring utilities to the properties. Inspections were required before the okay was given to restore utilities in affected properties.

As of 9 a.m. today, Schlosser said only four properties had not had electricity restored.

But much cleanup work remains in some of the affected properties.

As such, the American Red Cross is making available cleanup kits at its headquarters, 1220 S. Clinton St., from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. this week. Director Penny Matthews said about 20 kits were handed out as of early today.

The Red Cross can also be contacted by phone at 419-782-0136.

City crews will also have some cleaning up to do.

Although water has receded, some streets remain closed this morning because retreating water turned to ice. These included West Fort Street as well as a few streets in and around Kingsbury Park.

City director of safety Rob Cereghin said these will have to be salted and cleared off.

But city crews' bigger task will be scrubbing Kingsbury pool. Cereghin said the pool, bathhouse and concession stand are a mess.

"We're just waiting for a warm day for the pressure washer to clean it," he said. "We have a lot of work ahead of us."

Defiance County Engineer Warren Schlatter said all county roads were open this morning.