Water's rising: Ohio River expected to crest about 4 feet below flood stage

Although local rivers and streams continued to swell Sunday afternoon and evening, the waters are expected to crest and begin receding around midday today.

Brenda Kitts said the Muskingum River had risen to within a few feet of the Edgewater Cafe on Muskingum River Road Sunday.

"It's getting pretty close, about 6 feet from the back of the building," she said. "But we're still out of the water."

Kitts said as of 5:30 p.m. Sunday Muskingum River Road remained clear of water and passable.

According to Washington County Sheriff Larry Mincks, North Fork Road in Grandview Township was the only major area roadway that had been covered with water over the weekend.

Marietta City Police and the local post of the Ohio Highway Patrol also reported no major flooding issues, although water was over Marietta's River Trail near Fourth Street and had flooded the pedestrian bridge on the trail just north of Montgomery Street.

Simone Lewis, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Charleston, W.Va., said a flood watch for the Marietta and Parkersburg area, originally issued through Wednesday, was canceled as of Sunday morning.

"The Ohio River is still rising, but we're not forecasting any major flooding in that area," Lewis said. "The Ohio is expected to crest a little over 31 feet by late Monday morning or early afternoon, and flood stage is 35 feet.

"At the Willow Island locks and dam the river is expected to crest around 33 feet," she added. "Flood stage there is 37 feet."

She said at 6 p.m. Sunday the river was just above the 30-foot mark at Marietta.

On Friday forecasters were concerned that projected rainfall over the weekend would mix with snow melt from Pittsburgh and other areas north of the mid Ohio Valley, creating the potential for flooding. But Lewis said that scenario did not play out.

"There was some flooding in the Pittsburgh area, though, and there has been flooding in the Point Pleasant and Huntington, W.Va., areas," she added. "But the heaviest rain over the weekend fell in the southern areas of West Virginia."

Lewis said things should start drying out by this evening and the weather will stay dry into the coming weekend. The next precipitation is expected Saturday or Sunday.