Ohio families were cleaning up one flood when a second left homes beyond saving

For residents of Crooksville, Ohio, a second round of flooding arrived even before many families had finished dealing with the first. 

As people hauled out drenched furniture and tried to save keepsakes, more water swept in, and some people now say their homes are destroyed.

Here's what to know

Isabel Cleary (@isabelinvestigates) of NBC4 shared a report showing piles of soaked household items along Crooksville streets after two floods hit in roughly a week. In the caption, the station said the latest flooding was "making an already difficult cleanup even harder."

@isabelinvestigates In Perry County, people were hit with a second round of flooding over the weekend, making an already difficult cleanup even harder. All throughout Crooksville, streets are lined with people's belongings, soaked by two rounds of flooding in the past week. Now, people tell NBC4 that their homes are a total loss, and they don't know where they are going to be able to go. #fyp #crooksville #flooding #localnews ♬ original sound - Isabel Cleary

Cleary explained, "Streets are lined with people's belongings, soaked by two rounds of flooding. One early last week and the next over this past weekend. Now people tell me that their homes are a total loss and they don't know where they're going to go next."

Lisa Kirby, who lives with her daughters in an apartment complex that flooded, told Cleary that her family had moved valuables into a U-Haul after the first disaster. When the water came back again, she said, more of their belongings were destroyed. "Pretty much total chaos," Kirby told Cleary.

The repeat flooding left some residents telling NBC4 that their homes cannot be saved. The station also reported that Crooksville was under a boil-water advisory even as many households lacked electricity to boil water, let alone have running water at all.

One commenter on the post wrote, "My home town doesn't look like my home town anymore." Another said, "There is NO water to even boil! This community needs help!" A third wrote, "By the time the boat rescued me and my pups, there was over two feet of water in my apartment and we were on the couch trying to stay dry."

More background

Recovering from a flood is already expensive, exhausting, and emotionally draining. Facing a second flood before the first cleanup is complete can wipe out the few belongings people managed to save and deepen the housing crisis for families already scrambling to recover.

Flooding can also contaminate drinking water, cut off electricity, damage roads, and make it harder for emergency crews to reach people in danger. It can destabilize local economies as families lose homes, businesses close, and communities face mounting repair costs.

Scientists have warned that worsening extreme weather disasters are putting lives and livelihoods at greater risk in many parts of the country and world. 

A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture, increasing the likelihood of especially heavy downpours when it does rain. While no single flood should be blamed on climate change alone, repeated destructive flooding fits a broader pattern that threatens public health, community safety, and economic stability.

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