KELLEYS ISLAND, Ohio — A Lake Erie island is cleaning up after more than a foot of rain led to significant flooding Sunday night.
Doug Holmes lives on Kelleys Island. He said he woke up Monday morning to find the ditch and lawn in front of his business underwater.
He owns and runs Crafts Lakeview Lane Motel and Marina. He said he had never seen the water so high on his property.
Holmes’ basement was also flooded. He said the water was up to his chest and everything in the basement was destroyed.
“Everything was destroyed in the basement,” said Holmes. “The hot water heater was turned upside down, leaking water everywhere. Plus, the water was coming through the front door. Basement. It’s bad.”
Holmes said that because of the damage to the hot water heater, he currently does not have hot water at his home.
Spectrum News meteorologist Erin Carroll said the island saw about 10 to 15 inches fall starting around 9 p.m. Sunday night. A peak rate of five inches an hour fell at the height of the storm.
All that water damaged streets, lawns, and flooded basements. Some residents were also without water, and some businesses closed.
“The excess water over pouring into the streets and that was going into the lake,” said Blake Kenner, a Kelleys Island resident. “The Kelleys Island waterfalls that we’ve really never seen before from the excess amount of water running off into the lake.”
Blake Kenner has lived on the island for years and said he has only seen flooding like this once before. He said he has a sump pump which removes rising water from basements.
“The total amount was 36,000 gallons of water, and this started at midnight and all the way until 9:41 a.m.,” said Kenner. “Even at 9:41, we got out 237 gallons of water.”
Residents were initially advised to conserve water because of the storm, but the water department confirmed service has been fully restored. Businesses that temporarily closed Monday are expected to open Tuesday.
JT Lovins said he slept through the storm but woke up to damage his fence and also trapped fish because the pond behind his home overflowed.
“It’s mother nature,” said Lovins. “It’s going to happen once in a while, you know, storm of the century or however you want to say it, and you just have to pick up and move on.”
As cleanup continues, people say Kelleys Island is a tight-knit community, and everyone is going to help everyone recover from the storm.
Kelleys Island is the largest U.S. island in Lake Erie and home to around 325 year-round residents. Ferries to and from the island are still running.