BUTLER COUNTY, Ohio — Days after some of the worst flooding the village of Millville has seen, water was still being pumped out of homes and businesses Friday as residents and shop owners worked to assess the damage and clean up.
Sandy Wilkins, a Millville resident since 1996, said her basement had never flooded before this week. The water in her backyard rose to waist level Wednesday night. She said neighbors were wading through the dark, unsure of where to step.
"You were sinking as you were walking," Wilkins said. "We have no furnace, no washer, dryer, water heater. I mean, nothing."
Wilkins said her insurance company told her it could not help because the flooding originated from a creek rather than a water backup. She said the insurer offered to send a cleaning service, but would not cover the cost of moving items to make that possible.
"Last night was the first time that we could actually sit and just close our eyes for a minute. But even then, your head's just like, 'Oh, I need to do this,'" Wilkins said.
Neighbors told us they are organizing laundry assistance. In the area of Liberty Street, people handed out ticket stubs good for one industrial-size load-wash, dry and detergent.
Brookwood Highlander Center in Hamilton, a local laundromat, will extend its hours in the meantime to help.
Organizers told us they're working on a way to accept donations to help with laundry assistance. We will post those details once they become available.
WATCH: On day two of cleanup in Millville, neighbors look for help digging themselves out of the damage
The scope of the cleanup extended well beyond neighborhood streets.
At a gas station in the village, employees worked to clear debris. A staff member said the store itself was spared from the worst of the flooding.
"We got lucky, because we didn't get any water inside the store, but everybody else, their basement got flooded," a gas station staff member said.
Other neighboring businesses were not as fortunate. Tim Draman, the owner of American V-Twin motorcycle shop, said he arrived at his business around 10 p.m. Wednesday night and worked through roughly 8 p.m. Thursday to mitigate water damage.
"The water was apparently flowing pretty well through the building because it moved things around," Draman said.
Draman said his landlord had previously poured five and a half inches of concrete to raise the floors before he moved in a little over two years ago, in an effort to prevent exactly this kind of damage. But, he estimated roughly two inches of water moved through the building, leaving a thick layer of mud across the entire floor.
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Draman said he does not see significant damage to major equipment, but is working through inventory, parts and pneumatic controls for lifts that were on the floor and may have been damaged. That work has forced him to close his shop for the time being.
"I've had to just stop work on bikes and focus on cleanup," Draman said. "I've got a bunch of friends coming over Sunday, and we're gonna do all the scraping and vacuuming and hopefully get the floor all cleaned up, and then I can be back to work basically Monday."
For anyone in need of cleanup help, Butler County Emergency Management Agency Director Jim Bolin said various volunteer groups are organizing to help with impacted neighborhoods. To coordinate assistance, you can reach out to the Butler County Emergency Management Agency at (513) 785-5810.
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