Official warns devastating flash flooding possible in central Ohio

LANCASTER, Ohio (WCMH) -- As the nation watches the devastating developments in Texas, the Fairfield County Emergency Management Agency director warns that a major flood could potentially happen near the Hocking River. 

EMA Director Jon Kochis isn’t sharing this information to scare people, but rather to inform them, especially those who live near the Hocking River. Kochis also wants to make sure everyone is weather-aware. 

“Anywhere you have, you know that what they call riverine type flooding, associated with a fast-moving current, it's a worry,” Kochis said. 

Fairfield County has seen localized rain events where several inches of rain will fall, and residents faced flash floods just last week. Kochis said if the area near the river was to receive ten inches of rain in a short amount of time, it could be pretty devastating. 

“The flash flooding in a river setting provides that extra element of current, what can wipe away and move cars and sweep away people,” he said. “That poses a lot more concern in our area.”

The biggest river in Fairfield County is the Hocking River, which starts around the county line and as it goes south, increases in size and capacity. Kochis said there are all types of residential communities along the river, especially in areas along Tarkiln Road in Sugar Grove. 

“We've had rescues there before,” Kochis said. “I've been here 19 years and we've had several times where we've came out safely and slowly, but we've pulled people from that community and got them to safety when floodwaters rise. It's a beautiful setting and they're there on the banks of the river, just like in Texas, and the warning has to be quick.”

Fairfield County offers a couple of different avenues for warnings. There’s the cell phone system called Alert Fairfield, where a notification will be pushed directly to your phone. Another leading device for a warning is the NOAA Weather Radio. Kochis says both were used in Texas. NBC4 asked him how both work if the signal is bad. 

“You do need some kind of signal to receive the push notifications of those,” he said. “The weather radio has the advantage that if you receive the signal today, you're going to receive it during the severe weather. It's an old-school radio transmission.”

In addition to the river, Kochis said there are also a lot of dams in the county, which could be a problem as well. 

“We have larger dams that could really inundate along a large or large area, so we make sure that we're up on those plans and those procedures are what that would look like so that when an event were to occur, we could do our best to get people out of harm's way,” he said. 

Kochis encourages all residents to have a plan in place for any type of emergency and make sure to communicate that plan with family and friends.

To sign up for Alert Fairfield, click here.