The Ohio River at Marietta is expected to rise almost two feet above flood stage by Sunday, according to new flood forecasts released late Wednesday by the National Weather Service in Charleston, W.Va.
"We're looking for a crest of just below 37 feet-36.8 feet- and that will occur on Sunday night," said meteorologist John Victory.
Victory noted that the Ohio River will reach its flood stage, which is 35 feet, by Sunday morning.
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High water at South Olive
Sheila Rhodes, general manager of the Lafayette Hotel on Front Street in Marietta, said she and others at the hotel are keeping an eye on the river. The hotel's basement, where there's a banquet room and storage room that holds paperwork, floods when the river reaches 36 feet.
"(Thursday) morning, we're going to look at the levels and see if we need to take steps to move some things from the lower floor," she said. "Our chief engineer has been here for 20-plus years, so he kind of has a feel for when you need to start worrying about it."
Tom Perry, director of college relations at Marietta College, said officials will cover the field and the track at Don Drumm Stadium on Greene Street today.
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KATE YORK The Marietta Times
As parents picked up their children after school at Phillips Elementary in Marietta Wednesday, they passed a pond of water in the field next to the school, which nearly reached the road. Revised flood forecasts show that the Ohio River near Marietta could reach flood stage by Sunday.
"That floods pretty early down there," he said.
The college's students are currently on spring break, but Perry said college officials may start moving things from dorms on Fourth Street, including the Arts and Humanities House, to higher ground Friday.
"We're doing it in stages because each day, you'll have better information," he said. "Since the students aren't here, we're going to take precautions...in case it's worse than anticipated."
The Muskingum River's flood stage at McConnelsville is 11 feet. Young said it will likely crest just below that mark Friday.
"We're thinking that will stay below flood stage," he said. "They have so many dams on that river, they can do a lot of flood control on it."
