Parts of Cincinnati and neighboring communities experienced up to five inches of rainfall Friday. The severe storm caused flash flooding in streets and damage to homes and businesses in several neighborhoods.
Cincinnati City Manager Sheryl Long said in a statement Monday the city is working on debris removal with priority focus in four neighborhoods: Hyde Park, Oakley, Madisonville and California.
The Department of Public Services is deploying roll-off containers, the first of which is stationed at 4420 Camberwell Road in Hyde Park.
Residents can report debris, blocked roadways, drainage concerns or other storm-related service requests by calling 311 (within city limits), calling 513-765-1212 (outside city limits), or using 311cincy.org or the 311 Cincy mobile app.
Here's what we know.
How much rain fell in Cincinnati Friday?
Some parts of Cincinnati got up to five inches of rain, according to National Weather Service Meteorologist Julie Dian-Reed. She says flash flooding is not uncommon in July and August because storms don't move as quickly.
The NWS sent out a phone alert about flash flooding during Friday's storm. Dian-Reed encourages people to make sure that setting is enabled on smartphones so you get future emergency alerts.
The area is expected to get hit with more strong weather Tuesday.
"We could have clustering storms again, so I wouldn't be surprised if there are some flood issues," she said. "We can't pinpoint, 'This location will have flooding.' It's not of that nature."
She says although flooding is a possible threat Tuesday, damaging wind is expected to be the main concern.
Were there any water rescues?
The Cincinnati Fire Department says it responded to multiple water rescues involving cars stuck in high water on streets Friday.
Heavy Rescue 14 Captain Derek Hunt says his crew was assisting with a fire in Norwood when four or five water rescue calls came in around the same time. The most unusual and intense was on Madison Road in Oakley, where firefighters pulled two people from the roof of a car onto a rescue boat after their vehicle got stuck in fast-moving water.
"We just don't expect rapids in the middle of the city," Hunt told reporters Monday. "We've done a lot of training and a lot of water rescues, usually on the Ohio River, which the river can move very, very fast, but it's straight-line fast. This was just different."
Lieutenant Collin Grove with Heavy Rescue 9 says some of Friday's other rescues involved slower-moving or still water.
"We had six people who were in a minivan that was in about waist-deep water. We just assisted them out," Grove said. "After that, we had a Metro that was in about four-and-a-half, five feet of water that had some people onboard still."
Grove says while he doesn't know how drivers in those incidents got stuck, he encourages people to turn around and avoid driving through high water on the roadway even if they think they can make it through.
How many sewer backups were reported?
The Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati has received more than 900 reports of sewer backups and basement flooding related to Friday's heavy rainfall.
A sewer backup can occur when rain overwhelms the combined sewer system, which handles human waste and stormwater runoff in the same pipes. You can report a possible backup to MSD by calling 513-352-4900 or online at msdgc.org/sbu
MSD Director Diana Christy says crews are working to complete inspections for each report to determine whether a sewer backup actually occurred.
"We have crews working overtime all weekend, and we will continue over the next few days in this week until we get through this," Christy said. "In the meantime, we want to encourage residents to take action to clean up the floodwaters that have entered their buildings. Water from flash flooding or sewer backups, regardless of whether it came from the sewer or was stormwater that rushed in without entering the sewer, that is going to be contaminated water, and it can be very destructive."
The MSD website has a customer guide that includes information about how to clean up after a suspected sewer backup.
What happened with the Duck Creek flood gate?
Cincinnati officials are investigating whether a flood gate on Duck Creek in Madisonville and Oakley malfunctioned.
A Cincinnati Fire Department official told reporters over the weekend the gate did not close during the storm and the creek overflowed its banks.
City officials told WVXU Monday the city is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to investigate whether the gate failed.
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