CANAL FULTON, Ohio — Many people who live on Millhaven Avenue in Canal Fulton have been walking along train tracks to get in and out of the neighborhood because up to four feet of water is covering the road. The watery mess is an ongoing hassle for more than 60 homeowners.
Others on Millhaven Avenue are using canoes to paddle out to dry land to run errands, then paddle back to their homes.
"It's been kind of crazy, kind of annoying just like trying to get in and out to places,” said Canal Fulton resident Ashton Nair. “Yeah, it's been crazy."
Video from Air Tracker 5 and News 5’s drone shows the heavy flooding in sections of Canal Fulton, surrounding homes and cars.
The Tuscarawas River is now around 15 feet high, the fourth-highest level on record since 1913.
The river flooded into a canal with no place to go, and up to four feet of water invaded business basements on Canal Street, including at The Barrel Room.
Frustrated owner Keri Sullivan is pumping out as much water as possible. She was planning for a grand opening next week, but mother nature put that on hold.
“I came in on Monday, and it started with a small puddle, and two hours later, it was several inches deep, and it is now waist high,” Sullivan said.
Stark County Emergency Management Director Tim Warstler and Sarah Jamision from the National Weather Service are closely monitoring a map of county flooding, surveying the hardest-hit areas to help them predict the different stages when roads will flood in the future.
“This event is far from over,” Jamison said. “We're happy to see in some areas, the flood waters are receding, but we want to remind people that we do have a flash flood watch that is in effect for another round of showers and thunderstorms we're expecting into tonight and tomorrow."
Warstler said he hasn't received reports of basements flooding on Millhaven, but those who need help with clean-up kits can call the Red Cross.
