© 2024 Ideastream Public Media

1375 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44115
(216) 916-6100 | (877) 399-3307

WKSU is a public media service licensed to Kent State University and operated by Ideastream Public Media.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Ohio River Reaches Highest Flood Stage in 20 Years

a photo of flooding on a highway
OHIO DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
/
FACEBOOK

Thousands of Ohioans are spending today cleaning up flood damage.

The National Weather Servicereports the Ohio River crested at 60.5 feet yesterday – its highest level in more than two decades. Floodwaters in southwest and central Ohio are beginning to recede. Gov. John Kasich has declared a state of emergency in 17 counties. And he says in most of those places, preparation by emergency crews prevented more damage.

“The good news is, for a lot of people, not everybody, but for a lot of people, they are either in their homes or they return to their homes and there’s been minimal damage to them.”

But some roads throughout the state remain under water. Weather officials are hoping the next couple of days, which are supposed to be dry, will allow some of the flooded areas to recover.

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment. Jo started her career in Louisville, Kentucky in the mid 80’s when she helped produce a televised presidential debate for ABC News, worked for a creative services company and served as a general assignment report for a commercial radio station. In 1989, she returned back to her native Ohio to work at the WOSU Stations in Columbus where she began a long resume in public radio.