BELLEFONTAINE — Heavy rainfall triggered flooding across a Bellefontaine neighborhood after recent rain left the ground saturated.
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The Bellefontaine Fire Department rescued multiple people from vehicles stuck in floodwaters during the storm.
The storm marks the third flooding event in the neighborhood within three weeks. With water filling local streets and homes, only one storm drain in the immediate area was functioning to clear the runoff.
Ron Dunn, a Bellefontaine resident affected by the flooding, worked to clear water from his home using three pumps.
After running the pumps for 6 hours, Dunn was still unable to see his basement floor, facing repeat repair costs shortly after fixing his heating system.
“Everyone in this neighborhood’s basement is flooded right now, and it’s hurting right now because we just paid for the furnace getting fixed recently and now we got to do it again and we just ain’t getting no help down this end,” Dunn said.
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Dunn described how quickly the surge swept through the area, leaving neighbors struggling to move their property to safety.
“It just flooded through all the neighborhoods real quick in seconds,” Dunn said. “I mean if no one had time to respond, everybody’s trying to get their cars up higher and stuff like that. Like I said, this is our third round, and we’re just praying that it gets better anyway.”
To protect nearby houses along South Caroline Street, Dunn used his own vehicle to block traffic after passing drivers generated waves that pushed standing water into nearby structures.
“Everybody wanted to see if they could make their vehicle up and down the road here, causing more of a wave going to people’s houses,” Dunn said. “So I ended up taking my vehicle and blocking the road to get some water down. So, but it’s a very sad situation.”
While electricity remained active, standing water hampered household infrastructure throughout the neighborhood.
Expecting the single working drain to take hours to clear the road, Dunn noted that normal household functions remain disrupted.
“We still got our power and stuff, you ain’t gonna be able to use your bathroom or nothing for a very long time,” he said. “And it’s this one situation that we’re not used to dealing with.”
Following the vehicle rescues, the Bellefontaine Fire Department warned drivers against entering flooded roadways.
Meanwhile, the Logan County Emergency Management Director is processing damage reports from the neighborhood.
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