KELLEYS ISLAND, Ohio — Just as the holiday weekend was winding down, a sudden, intense downpour inundated a popular summer destination.
Kelleys Island received what some described as a historic rainfall. News 5 meteorologist Allan Nosoff said the island saw almost half of what it receives in an entire average year in about six hours.
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"We could hear the rain, but we didn’t realize it was going to be this serious. So we just went to bed and got up this morning [and saw] a mess,” said JT Lovins, who is a part-time resident on the island.
The water covered much of West Lakeshore Drive near Lovins’ home, eroding part of the shoreline and flooding yards and basements.
"You can look in the yards now, and you can see there’s just huge amounts of water in yards all along the street here,” said Barbara Shadle, who also owns a home on Lakeshore Drive.
The rainfall washed dozens of fish onto Lovins’ property. On Monday afternoon, children were wading into the flooded lawn to collect them.
"They went home and got nets and fished 62 carp out of there,” Lovins said.
He explained the fish were swimming where the family’s propane tank had formerly sat on Sunday evening.
"We have [had] a thousand-pound propane tank. It’s now sitting up there,” he said, pointing to the end of his driveway. “It just forced it out. That’s what destroyed the fence.”
The Kelleys Island Police Department said it began receiving calls about damage around 2 a.m. Monday.
"We’ve had a lot of flooded basements. I believe one person reported up to 4.5 feet in their basement. As long as it’s property, it’s fine. Nobody’s hurt, and everyone’s safe,” said Chief James Bartus.
He said nearby communities have been quick to offer help. By Monday afternoon, several truckloads of large rocks from Sandusky were dropped off near Lakeshore Drive to stabilize the shoreline.
Early Monday, the water department asked everyone to conserve water while it worked to normalize its water levels and pump system. By that afternoon, the conservation request had been lifted.
"Our phone has been going nonstop with people asking if they can come to the island. The island is open,” said Bartus. “We’re in the recovery stage.”
Neighbors expected the cleanup to take some time, but many said they were grateful things weren’t worse.
"We’re the island. We recover pretty quick. We have a good team,” said Bartus.
