Although flood waters can still be found all around Switzerland County, the levels for and around the Ohio River are beginning to go down – and that’s exposing the next task in front of workers.
The clean up.
As the river levels fall, all sorts of debris, from trash to logs, is being deposited on the riverbanks. Once the water is back in its banks, a lengthy clean up will be in store.
Christy Kloepfer, project navigation assistant at the Markland Locks and Dam, said that river level as of Wednesday morning was at 48.5 feet; and got as got as high as 50.3 on March 13th-14th – just below flood stage of 51-feet.
The lock gates went “all out” – meaning that the gates were completely out of the water – on March 9th when the water level at the dam exceeded 480-feet; and the gates were still out of the water as of Wednesday.
“They probably will be until the weekend,” Christy Kloepfer said of the gates being out of the water. “Because we’re supposed to fall, but very slowly. Friday they have us projected to have a depth of 47.”