OTTAWA COUNTY, Ohio — Two months after declaring state of emergency, Ottawa County still has roads closed because of flooding.
"It's kind of a continual beating the community has taken," Ottawa County Emergency Management Director, Fred Petersen, said.
For seemingly two straight months, whenever there is a wind off of Lake Erie, water pours over the banks and covers Port Clinton and Ottawa County roads.
SR 2 west of Port Clinton is continuously covered in water and is regularly closed.
Petersen said relief is nowhere in sight and he just hopes the lake level drops before the fall.
A typical wind off the lake averages about 15 knots during the summer, but a solid northeaster wind in the fall could reach up to 30 knots and last for days.
"If we get something twice that and twice as long, we're going to have some much worse problems than we've seen in a long time," Petersen said.
Because of the on-going state of emergency, the county could be eligible for state relief funding, although these funds haven't been finalized yet.
However, the county is now eligible for federal funding after President Donald Trump cleared emergency dollars for Ohio because of the damage a cluster of tornadoes caused in the southern area of the state.
But the funds available in Ottawa County would be only for flood mitigation, meaning it won't recoup property owners for damages.
"So, it's not going to help them recover from things that have happened because of the high water over the past few months or over the year. But, it might be something that they can say I could elevate my home, or could I do some things to prevent the water from getting in in the first place," Petersen said.
In rural Ottawa County, SR 2 was closed yet again over the weekend due to high water levels off of Lake Erie.
This stretch of the road, east of Magee Marsh has been a constant problem for drivers since the Spring.
With so much wetland and marshes there, the water along the side of the road is constantly primed to spill over with even the slightest raise in water levels.
For the Barnside Creamery, located right at the corner of SR 2 and SR19, it's even affected their business.
Owner Tonia Tice said they have had to close due to high water multiple times this year and even when they are open, high water somewhere nearby has sometimes prevented customers from getting to her store.
In the meantime, she has had few options to prevent the water from getting into the business. She has tried putting sandbags outside and even pushing stone from their parking lot into makeshift dikes.
The folks who live along this stretch of Ottawa County are hoping for some relief soon, but they said they are also aware that from a practical standpoint, the water doesn't have anywhere to go.
"We're hoping, but I don't see that happening. So we're just trying to find solutions, trying to find help as to figure out how to control it or what we can do to keep our business going as a small business," Tice said.
County residents had an opportunity to learn about receiving some of that flood mitigation federal funding at a public meeting Monday night at Port Clinton High School.