PORTSMOUTH- When Helene hit Scioto County, not much time was made available to accurately plan for keeping water away from homes, moving cars out of dips and low-lying roads, or for people to evacuate areas where water could potentially pool in a worst-case scenario brought to life where massive amounts of water overwhelmed storm drains and pumps.

In Portsmouth, on High Street, which was one of the worst areas hit, the water accumulation went from standard runoff to eight feet in less than thirty minutes. By the time residents noticed water collecting, it began rushing in. Other nearby streets were also getting flooded and people evacuating cars were backed up at intersections while others pulled people from moving water, looked for potentially clogged drains, and braced for impact.

On High, when the water crested, basements were full, submerging water heaters, furnaces, central air units and other valuables. Water was at porch level of elevated homes, and cars were completely submerged.

It was deep enough that, when the Times reported on the situation live via kayak, the writer could paddle over SUVs and vans and only touch the roofs after dipping the paddle a minimum of two feet under water. And some of these large vehicles were washed up onto sidewalks and off the road, providing additional height.

All over the county, first responders were answering the call to save people from water or their water-locked homes.

Portsmouth Fire Battalion Chief Michael Sines can’t recall the time the first call came in, but expects they started around noon or 1 p.m. The crews didn’t stop until 9 p.m. that night. The department made 50 responses and carried out 20 rescues.

“The rescues were a mixture of getting people out of cars that were overtaken by high water and house rescues,” Sines recalled. “Some of our rescues happened on Shawnee Road near the hospital, which had three to four feet of water. Grandview was flooded with about three to four feet as well. High Street had anywhere from five to eight feet. We even had to utilize our swift water rescue boat in the 1800 block of High Street.”

Other flooded streets included sections of Summit, 20th, Kinneys Lane, 23rd, 6th, Harmon, Gallia, and more. Additionally, there were other areas, such as Thomas Avenue and Mabert Road, with major water elevation levels.

Nine on-duty firefighters were responding, New Boston sent five additional firefighters, and an additional six guys were called in for overtime.

“I think, for the most part, it was all carried out Friday, due to the flooding, the weekend was a little slower,” Sines said.

Fire Chief Long said that his crew did an excellent job, and he is proud of their work.

The Scioto County Swift Water Rescue Team also responded to calls in the county, with Valley and Clay Townships sending firefighters to make a rescue in Rosemount.

“There were two young males trapped in their cars with water up to their doors rushing in on them at Maple Benner Road and SR23 by the underpass,” Rosemount’s Eric Brown, who helped form the team, said. “We had to get vests on them and bring them out of the water and rescue them. One fireman actually carried one of the boys out on his back and got them to their families. Rosemount got hit hard. There were a lot of rescues and checking in on people.”