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Flooding Forces Evacuations In West Chester, Causes Concern In Falmouth

west chester flooding
Courtesy of WCPO
Mosteller Road near I-275 was flooded Tuesday morning.

The flooding from steady Tri-State rain, predicted to continue into Wednesday, has already trapped some employees in their West Chester businesses and is threating to cause problems in Falmouth, Kentucky.

Late Tuesday morning, an overflow of the East Fork of the Mill Creek and a pond between Windisch and I-75  caused roads to flood in West Chester. Police say 85 businesses, including Humana and GE, were affected and firefighters had to help 15 people to safety using dump trucks, school buses and in one case a boat. A staging area was set up in the IKEA parking lot.

A GE Aviation spokesman told WVXU its Additive Technology Center "is closed down until this passes. The facility is secure, with no water or damage inside. Except for a critical few, we held the employees home given the forecast for high water."

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Humana emailed to say the company had asked most of its employees to head home for the day as a result of the flooding. "Humana is coordinating assistance for employees who have had difficulty exiting the parking lot in their cars or who needed a ride home," the statement read. "We are grateful that our team members are safe and appreciate the efforts of local emergency responders today."

The flooded areas include Windisch Road between Crescentville and Allen Roads and Allen Road between Windisch Road and River Walk.

Credit Josh Quigg
Josh Quigg was briefly trapped at work because of the West Chester flooding

Josh Quigg works in the area and told WVXU when he arrived only part of Windisch was flooded and closed on one end. He was able to get around on the other side "but about an hour into work we all noticed that the entrance/exit was flooded and impossible to try to drive through."

He says around noon a section of Windisch opened to allowed businesses to evacuate their workers and it was at that time he was able to drive out.

Employees of the affected businesses were notified on reverse 911.

See a map of the area here.

Water Is Also Rising In Falmouth

The National Weather Service says major flooding is now expected along the Licking River at Falmouth. With additional heavy rain, the river is expected to rise 10 feet above flood stage to 43 feet Wednesday. In 1997 it crested at 51.8 ft, a record.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

Ann Thompson has decades of journalism experience in the Greater Cincinnati market and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her reporting.