The history of the Hocking River is filled to the brim with countless floods, threatening the residents of Athens and students of Ohio University for many years. However, the river’s lesser known creeks have caused lasting damage across Athens County, leaving many villages high and dry.
Only a handful of substantial floods have occurred in the past 20 years, but water damage has led to property destruction that lingers in Athens County’s villages.
Flooding is the number one natural hazard in Athens County and affects the greatest number of residents, said Lori Burchett, Athens County Planner.
In Amesville, a Federal Creek flood in 1998 damaged properties so badly that village officials had to work alongside the Federal Emergency Management Agency to tear houses down because they were beyond repair, said Gary Goosman, village mayor.
“The 1998 flood was the worst in Amesville recorded history,” Goosman said. “It eliminated 15 percent of the housing stock in the village because houses were ruined on the whole south side.”
There are no plans to rebuild these houses, Goosman said, adding that the city has been financially strained after the property damage prompted residents to move out of the village.
“(The destroyed houses) made up probably 10 to 15 percent of what the village used to have as tax revenue,” he said. “We still have to provide services, but now we have a significantly fewer amount of houses to support those services.”
Loss of taxable revenue is a problem for Trimble as well, where flooding of Sunday Creek from 1998-2004 destroyed about 20 houses, said Douglas Davis, village mayor.
“I estimate that we’ve lost $200,000 in tax revenue just in the last few years,” Davis said. “For a small town, that is crucial.”
Whereas Amesville officials were able to tear down abandoned houses, damaged homes in Trimble were put up for auction at sheriff’s sales, where there were few offers for purchase, Douglas said.
“We’ve got these houses that have been unwanted for 10 to 12 years and people ask, ‘Why are these still there?’ ” Douglas said. “People don’t understand how hard it is to sell these (houses).”
Douglas said he is currently petitioning Hocking Athens Perry Community Action, an organization that is allocating about $160,000 to municipalities for the demolition of condemned buildings, for funding to tear down eight houses in Trimble.
Demolition costs about $8,000, he said, adding that Trimble won’t be able to tear these buildings down without funding.
To clean up from potential damage in the future, most municipalities in Ohio are members of the National Flood Insurance Program, which requires floodplain residents to purchase flood insurance, said Paul Logue, Athens’ city planner and floodplain manager.
In order for municipalities to receive assistance from FEMA, they must meet minimum federal guidelines, Burchett said, adding that municipalities can be barred from federal aid to deal with flood damage to properties if they don’t meet these regulations.
Chauncey residents lost floodplain insurance in 2012 after the village failed to implement FEMA regulations, said Mike Walls, village administrator.
Without insurance, citizens would receive very little state or federal money if their homes were destroyed or damaged by a flood, said Fred Davis, director of Athens Emergency Management Agency.
“We (could) help them through the American Red Cross or local donations,” Fred added. “(There would be local assistance) to a point, but there’s a limit there.”
Before the next series of floods strike, though, villages are still reeling from those in the past.
Since the 1998 flooding of Sunday Creek, Douglas said that Trimble has lost about 50 percent of its taxable revenue after a subsequent flight of residents out of the village.
“(In these flood-damaged houses), there are no taxes being paid. If you want to talk about a big loss to the village, this is it,” Douglas said. “We’re right to the point right now with revenue we’re barely keeping on.”
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