Robert Thomas has been busy driving back and forth between his Pataskala home and storm-damaged communities in Perry County for the last week. Thomas, a master electrician, worked long days helping reconnect residents who lost power during a massive storm system that pummeled the county earlier this month.
He didn't expect to soon be the victim of extreme weather himself.
Thomas woke around 4 a.m. on Aug. 20 to the crackling sound of a tree about the snap. Seconds later, the limb of a 130-foot-tall walnut tree fell through the roof of his trailer. Thomas rolled on top of his pregnant wife to protect her from the damage before getting her and their other kids outside.
Within 20 minutes, Thomas said his and several other trailers along the South
Fork Licking River were under four feet of water. All that remains of his bedroom now is splintered wood and insulation.
"This is the scariest thing I've ever been through," Thomas said, trying to salvage what he could from his home.
Flooding continued across central Ohio after a morning of closed roads and water rescues, with some local districts canceling and delaying school and one community asking residents to shelter in place.
The Columbus Division of Fire performed at least eight water rescues from 4:30 to 8 a.m., Battalion Chief Brian Barnhart said. Most of the rescues were people who became stuck in their cars after trying to drive on flooded roads.
In Licking County, the weather service issued a flood warning for multiples areas along the South Fork Licking River. The swollen river flooded corn fields along Creek Road SW and left at least two cars stranded in the water on the road.
A little farther east, a portion of Beaver Run Road in Pataskala was washed away from a flooded creek.
Neil Schumaker drove down Creek Road SW to a friend's farm to check on some groundhog traps when he saw "HIGH WATER" signs warning motorists to turn around. Schumaker lives up the road and had flooding on both sides of his house. Two sump pumps were running in his basement to keep it dry.
In his 27 years living in his home, Schumaker said he can't remember flooding this bad.
Residents of Bright Waters, a Pataskala subdivision, were unable to leave their neighborhood because of high waters. One retired firefighter told a Dispatch editor that rushing water lapped against the bridge connecting the subdivision to town so violently that it would be "lethal" to fall into the water.
By 11 a.m., high waters started to subside. Flooded parking lots around downtown Pataskala had drained and residents could safely walk the streets, some of which were slick with gasoline, to assess the damage.
Ben Peek moved into a new apartment on Willow Street in Pataskala two days before the river flooded his new street. Thankfully, he said, his apartment is on the second floor. But his downstairs neighbor had to evacuate at 6 a.m.
Peek helped pull debris from the water, including a lawn mower and patio furniture for Thomas' mother.
"What else can I do but try to help?" Peek said.
Higher education reporter Sheridan Hendrix can be reached at shendrix@dispatch.com and on Signal at @sheridan.120. You can follow her on Instagram at @sheridanwrites.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Licking County residents reeling after heavy rains bring flash flooding
