Eastlake gets hit by floods

I grew up in Eastlake, Ohio. Been through this area many times. I was shocked to see they recieved 9 inches of rain on Friday! First the heat and now floods! Whats next!

Over 100 Evacuated After 9 Inches of Rain Flooded Ohio Rivers, Streets

Friday , July 28, 2006

EASTLAKE, Ohio -Flood water surged into homes and businesses, forcing people to rooftops to await rescue Friday morning after 9 inches of rain filled the rivers and streets of northeast Ohio.

Lake County, east of Cleveland, declared a state of emergency. County Administrator Kenneth R. Gauntner Jr. estimated at least 100 people had been evacuated and all available rescue boats had been pressed into service.

As much as 9 inches of rain fell Thursday and Friday in Lake County, the National Weather Service said.

Firefighters and Coast Guard crews were busy plucking stranded people from flooding homes and searching for a man who disappeared early Friday while moving marina equipment out of high water near the swollen Chagrin River, an outlet to Lake Erie.

Several storms have pounded the state over the past month, wreaking havoc on riverside homes and low-lying neighborhoods.

"It's just been a very active weather pattern for this part of the country," said Dan Leins, a weather service meteorologist in Cleveland. "When you have weather patterns like this, it's not uncommon to see showers and thunderstorms several nights in a row."

In Eastlake, officials opened City Hall as a temporary shelter.

In nearby Mentor, police helped remove more than 100 children from Ridge Pointe Child Care Center on Thursday as waist-deep water flooding the parking lot began seeping into the building.

Children were pulled through windows and bused to a nearby fire station, where their parents picked them up.

"It was the most organized chaos I have ever seen," said Tonja Schleicher, owner of the day care. "Some of the kids were a little upset, so we just hugged them a little tighter."