Flooding across parts of Southwest Ohio and Southeast Indiana early Thursday triggered rescues, road closures and school disruptions after heavy overnight rainfall.
Roads in one Indiana county are restricted roads to emergency use, while Butler County crews carried out multiple high‑water rescues, including evacuating a family of three and their pets from a flooded Millville home and pulling a stranded driver from rising water in Morgan Township.
In Hamilton County, four roads are closed due to high water:
Butler and Warren counties in Ohio and several Indiana counties are under a flood warning while other local counties are under flood watches.
Franklin County in Indiana has issued a red travel advisory, closing roads to all but emergency personnel. The county school system is operating remotely for the day.
The weather is blamed for a house fire after lightning struck an Oakley home and started a massive blaze that caused $320,000 in damage overnight, according to the Cincinnati Fire Department. No one was hurt, but two residents and a dog are now displaced.
First responders rescued several people from floodwaters in Butler County overnight, according to the firefighters and the sheriff’s office. No injuries were reported.
Ross Township firefighters in boats evacuated a family of three and their two pets from a home in Millville, a supervisor with the county’s Emergency Response Services said. It happened around 12:30 a.m. Thursday, March 5, in the area of Walnut Street, the supervisor said.
At one point, most of the small rural village was flooded, but the waters have receded, according to the sheriff’s office.
The family did not need assistance to find a place to stay, the ERS supervisor said.
Elsewhere, a driver was rescued after calling 911 when her Chevy sedan stalled in high water, wrecking just off the road in Morgan Township, according to dispatchers. It happened around 1:15 a.m. in the 3800 block of Race Lane.
Earlier on the same road, another car stalled out in high water, but the people inside got out on their own and were picked up, dispatchers said.
Early Thursday, Monroe and Middletown firefighters and Trenton’s drone searched the woods near the SunCoke Energy plant for homeless people reported trapped in high water.
They were called to the 3300 block of Yankee Road just before 4:30 a.m. after receiving a report that homeless people were stuck on a couch behind the plant with water moving up to their knees, dispatchers confirm.
A few people in an encampment got held up in the water, but crews quickly got them out, a Monroe firefighter said. Some wanted to stay.
Crews cleared the scene after the drone confirmed no one else was trapped.
Enquirer media partner Fox19 provided this report. Enquirer reporter Cameron Knight contributed.
This story may be updated.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Rain triggers Butler County rescues, closed roads in Hamilton County
Reporting by Jennifer Edwards Baker and Caroline Gerhart, Fox19 / Cincinnati Enquirer
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