Ohio Hits 16-Foot Flood Crest; 58 Dead as Refugees View Losses

A new torrent washed this flooded town Friday, the tears of weary refugees returning home for the first time to see just how much they’ve lost.

“I’ve cried so much my face hurts,” says Lisa McQueen, 24, hugging her husband, Randy, in front of their badly warped house.

“We kind of expected it to be bad, but once you see it, it really hits you,” says McQueen, 27. “Everything’s a total loss.”

The fourth anniversary of the McQueens’ move into the one-story, white-frame was marked Saturday by 12 inches of rain that sent the Licking River pouring through the streets of this town of 2,700.

Falmouth, where at least four people have died, dozens are still unaccounted for and most homes and businesses sustained major or total damage, was among the hardest-hit towns in floods that forced thousands from their homes along the Ohio River and smaller streams in Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia. Floods and tornadoes have been blamed for at least 58 deaths.

The latest was counted Friday in the town of West Point, Ky., where more than 30 people have refused to flee high water. The body of one holdout, a man considered a hermit by townsfolk, was pulled from water alongside the raised railroad tracks.

The Ohio crested almost 16 feet above flood stage Friday in Louisville, at 38.8 feet. Normal river level at this time of year is 12 feet, and the water was not expected to drop significantly until Sunday. Some western Kentucky towns don’t expect a crest for a week.

With the huge wave of water wending its way downstream, residents are heading for high ground.

In Grandview, Ind., water churned up from storm drains advanced on Main Street, forcing even the most stubborn defenders to end efforts to hold back the Ohio with sandbags. The only businesses still open are a liquor store and a tavern.

About 300 of Grandview’s 800 residents have been driven from their homes.