CELINA — The Mercer County Council on Aging opened its garage sale fundraiser despite approximately half a foot of floodwater standing in the senior center parking lot.
The event aims to generate funds to assist local seniors trapped in their homes by surrounding floodwaters.
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Flooding has affected multiple locations across Mercer County following continuous rain over recent weeks.
Proceeds from the garage sale support elderly community members dealing with flooded basements and limited mobility due to high waters.
Tash Schulze, activities director for the Mercer County Council on Aging, noted that shoppers still turned out despite the severe weather and water in the parking lot.
“I’ve never, in 20 years that I’ve been doing the garage sales, I have never opened a garage sale with this much water and this much rain,” Schulze said. “And, all of our wonderful loyal shoppers still showed up to support us and come buy all the wonderful items at the garage sale.”
Schulze explained that the flooding has impacted senior residents across the area, leaving many unable to leave their residences.
“There are so many of our seniors that cannot get out. And we’re having flood issues everywhere right now,” Schulze said.
“And we’ve had so many people call in and say, ‘My basement’s flooding and they definitely need the neighbors to check in” Cassidy Freeman, a specialist with the Mercer County Emergency Management Agency, noted that flood conditions present distinct challenges for cleanup efforts compared to other weather incidents.
“Because wind event, you can just take the debris and move it out of the way,” Freeman said. “With flooding, the water comes back, and then it’ll probably take a couple days, and the water’s still gonna be pulling in different places.”
Freeman stated that recent heavy precipitation has left the ground unable to absorb additional rainfall. The area recorded eight inches of rain this month and nine inches last month, following a major rain event three weeks prior.
“You can tell our ground is pretty saturated. There’s the water; it has no place to go,” Freeman said. “And with the amount of rain we had this month already up to eight inches and last month we had nine inches, the water’s just kind of out of standstill, nowhere to go!”
The garage sale fundraiser will continue through this weekend, rain or shine.
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