Lafayette Hotel General Manager Sheila Rhodes points to the wall to show how high she expects the water to get in the basement. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

Marietta business owners braced themselves and prepared their businesses for floodwaters Wednesday afternoon from the Ohio River, which is predicted to crest by this evening.

The National Weather Services predicts that the Ohio River will crest at 40.5 feet in Marietta by 8 p.m. today.

According to information from a gauge at the Marietta Pumphouse, the Ohio River was measured at 37.21 feet at 5 p.m. Wednesday. Flood stage for the Ohio River is 35 feet. The NWS issued a flood warning Wednesday morning that calls for major flooding of the Ohio River at Marietta. The warning is in effect until Saturday evening.

Sheila Rhodes, the general manager of the Lafayette Hotel on Front Street in Marietta, was in the hotel’s basement with staff Wednesday afternoon preparing for flooding.

“We’ve begun moving everything out of our basement,” shs said.

The Ohio River rises up some of the steps at the Ohio River Levee in downtown Marietta on Wednesday morning. (Photo By Michelle Dillon)

Rhodes said water gets in the basement when the river is at 36 feet so they move everything out if the prediction for the Ohio River to be 36 feet or higher.

The hotel basement is used for storage and it has a couple of conference rooms, Rhodes said, and they were moving everything out of it to higher ground upstairs in the hotel and in the warehouse. The hotel is also turning off the boiler in the basement, Rhodes said, “because it will unfortunately be in the water zone.”

Rhodes expects to get 3 to 4 feet of water in the basement. She said the big thing they will have to do because of the flood will be getting the crew back in to do major cleanup work and putting things back.

“It’s definitely a lot of work in a short time,” she said about the flood preparations.

William Dorsey owns Riverview Antiques on Front Street. He said he is “ust watching and waiting” in response to flood predictions.

Lafayette Hotel employees, from left, Courtney Parsons and Johnny Latham, move chairs from the basement on Wednesday afternoon in preparation for possible flooding from the Ohio River. The river is expected to crest at 40.5 feet by this afternoon. Flood stage is 35 feet. (Photo by Michelle Dillon)

Dorsey said he needed to hear two more river level predictions before he decided to move stuff, but he had started a list of things he needed to get ready to move. He said if they do move stuff they will put it in offices upstairs.

“I’ll be here from right now until the danger is passed,” Dorsey said, adding he will wait in the upstairs offices.

Dorsey said he does not have flood insurance because anyone who opens a business in downtown Marietta knows to expect flooding. He said flooding is just part of operations.

“You have to plan for the unplannable,” Dorsey said.

Jennifer Tinkler, the executive director of Marietta Main Street, was at the Marietta Armory on Front Street Wednesday afternoon cleaning out the organization’s rooms in the building’s lower level.

The Ohio River creeps up to Ohio Street, covering portions of Ohio Riverfront Park Wednesday. The water level was measured as 36.81 feet at 3 p.m by the National Weather Service. The flood level is 35 feet. (Photo by Kristen Hainkel)

“I went around this morning and helped some businesses empty their basements” and now Marietta Main Street was moving its stuff out because they’ve upped the water level so there would be flooding, she said.

“So now we’re scrambling a bit just like everyone else,” Tinkler said.

Deana Clark, the executive director of the Marietta-Washington County Convention & Visitors Bureau, was also at the Armory Wednesday afternoon to clear out rooms on the lower level.

“It’s come up a lot even since this morning,” Clark said of the Ohio River.

She said it has been predicted the lower level of the armory will get 6 inches of water.

Business owners preparing for flood waters have places to turn for help.

The Marietta Community Foundation sent out an email blast Wednesday afternoon asking for donations to be made to its Hardship & Disaster Relief Program. MCF said the program “plays a crucial role in providing timely and meaningful support to those facing unexpected challenges or natural disasters.”

MCF said donations can be made at www.mcfohio.org/hardship or can be sent to the foundation at 100 Putman St. The foundation also put a call out to volunteers to help Marietta business owners move their inventory to higher ground.

The Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce put a post on its Facebook page Wednesday afternoon informing businesses that U-Haul Moving and Storage at 502 Pike St. in Marietta is offering one free month of storage to any business affected by flood waters.

Mayor Josh Schlicher said the city had a staff meeting Wednesday morning about the potential flooding.

“Probably downtown is going to be affected, mainly Front Street,” Schlicher said.

Schilcher said Front Street was closed to through traffic around noon Wednesday to allow businesses the space needed to move their stuff to higher ground. He also said the city planned to reopen Front Street by today, but it would depend on new forecasts about the river’s water levels.

“The city is making provision for its properties for stuff that needs to be moved,” Schilcher said.

He said the city also brought in extra fire personnel in anticipation of the flooding and the city is planning on 42 feet of water in its preparations just to be safe.

“If they can seek higher ground and get their stuff out of there safe, we encourage that,” Schilcher said about what residents should do.

Schlicher suggested residents stock up on supplies, especially food and water. Residents can turn to the city for help, according to Schilcher.

The city has an area ready for trucks and trailers if people need somewhere to store them. The property was volunteered by property owners, Schlicher said.

He said there are sandbags available at the city’s Second Street parking lot and there are more coming. He also said if residents have to leave their homes due to flooding and they have no other place to go they can contact the city for help. He emphasized this is for people if their secondary place to go is not available.

Schlicher said residents should not call emergency numbers for information about flooding, but can instead find that information on the city website or Facebook page.

A post on the city’s Facebook page at 5:32 p.m. Wednesday said “almost all of Marietta’s South side (near the stadium) and West side roads are closed. Please refrain from driving in these areas. Adhere to Road Closed signs.”

The City of Marietta has a list of road closures on its website.

“We want people to be safe,” he said about the flooding.