Flooding evacuates apartments, dog boarder in Fairfield County
FIDO, the Finishing Institute for Dog Owners, located on the 1900 block of Granville Pike, had flood waters tear through the entire facility Sunday, prompting a fire department response as people and animals had to be rescued from inside the facility.
According to officials on the scene, at least two people were still inside the building after storms hit the area Sunday afternoon, causing the nearby Fetters Run stream to overflow and the water to pour into the FIDO facility. Water levels rose to waist-high at some parts of the building, as seen by a water line on a fence outside the building.
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FIDO evacuated all dogs from its daycare, boarding and training facility Saturday night because of mild flooding. On Sunday, the rain came back wth a vengeance, flooding the building in about two minutes, according to those who responded to the scene.
The Lancaster Fire Department responded to a 911 call and arrived to successfully evacuated the building. No one was injured during the rescue, with officials saying the dogs were evacuated safely. One employee at the scene was working to rescue dogs from inside the building when firefighters arrived.
One dog, Scooby, is reported missing after biting a firefighter and running off, according to the dog's owner.
Debris that washed up against the building smashed part of the outside fence. Additionally, the force of the flood waters pushed a trash dumpster about 50 yards to the opposite side of the building.
Owners whose dogs were staying at FIDO are asked to go to the Fairfield County Dog Adoption Center and Shelter, located at 1715 Granville Pike, Lancaster, to pick up their dog. The center is set to reopen Monday at 9 a.m.
In addition to FIDO, the flooding also caused an apartment complex to evacuate when floodwaters caused damage to some of the units.
'It's just completely, everything's just so completely ruined,' resident Areal Miller said. 'All my daughter's artwork going back to her first sketchbook.'
Multiple people who live in the complex said they had options on where to stay Sunday night. Some said they dealt with minor flooding from Saturday's storms, but that was mild compared to Sunday's rain.
One resident sat at the top of his driveway, watching his motorcycle and hoping it would start once the water receded. Approximately 50 residents were affected at the complex.
'When it rains, we like to come out and we see how high the creek gets, but it never, never, last night was the first night that water actually ever came into the house,' Miller said. 'It rained pretty hard before, and the water cascades down this road here to where it will flood the bottom of my door here. I took one of those little cushy things you put in your door to keep the weather out, right? It wasn't stopped by it. It just blew it away.'
Residents are at a loss as to what to do next as they've never dealt with flooding like this before.
The American Red Cross has set up a shelter at the YMCA, 465 West 6th Street, Lancaster, for those affected by the flood.
In addition, the flooding affected several roads, businesses, and medical facilities, including Fairfield Medical Center's urgent care on Main Street. The facility was closed all day Sunday after the parking lot flooded with water from Baldwin Run Stream, which runs adjacent to the parking lot.
A short distance away, the Kroger supermarket also closed after the water flooded its parking lot, leaving behind a muddy sludge. The water threatens to return with the next downpour.
'The ground, saturated, can't take any more water,' Fairfield County Emergency Management Agency Director Jon Kochis said. 'All the drainage leads to these creeks and they just rise up quickly and they recede quickly.'
Kochis and Lancaster Fire Department Chief Slade Shultz worked nonstop Sunday, going from one call to the next. They've seen country roads that looked more like rivers flowing into cornfields on Coonpath Road, and waist-high water at FIDO.
'Animals, they don't understand what's going on,' Schultz said. 'They're scared. They don't know that we're there to help them sometimes, so that can be dangerous for the responders and for the employees at the same time. It's a similar circumstance when we rescue animals inside a burning building.'
This presents a unique challenge for first responders.
'They might try to nip at you or bite because they're just trying to be defensive,' Schultz said. 'So that can be a challenge, but we were able to get all the animals out safely.'
The EMA said flooding like this is dangerous, and being prepared can mean life or death.
'Being aware is the most critical thing,' Kochis said. 'And then having a plan. What am I going to do? Who am I going to communicate with and my family about where I'm going to go, what I'm going to do?'
Water rescues and flooding have become the norm for Lancaster firefighters over the last two days, some of them preventable.
'A lot of flooded cars, a lot of stranded cars this week,' Kochis said. 'Just, there's no sense in if you see water, you shouldn't drive through it. That's it.'
Kochis urges everyone to stay home in the event of a flood and stay away when they hear about bad flooding, unless they are fleeing a flood situation.
A flash flood warning from the National Weather Service expired at 9:50 p.m. Sunday; however, the service issued a flood advisory until 8:30 a.m.
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