MONTGOMERY COUNTY — The entire region has an ‘Enhanced’ or level 3 out of 5, risk for severe storms Wednesday night into early Thursday morning.
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The National Weather Service has issued a Flood Watch for Auglaize, Butler, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Darke, Greene, Logan, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Preble, Shelby and Warren counties starting at 8 p.m. on Wednesday to 8:00 a.m. on Sunday. Randolph, Union and Wayne counties in Indiana are also included on this watch.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, changes will be made across the Great Miami River to prevent any widespread flooding.
As much as six inches of rain may fall between Tuesday and Sunday, according to Storm Center 7 Team of Meteorologists.
“It’s not unprecedented, but it’s a heavier, higher rainfall event,” Mike Ekberg said.
Ekberg is a hydrologist with the Miami Conservancy District.
The Miami Conservancy District is responsible for making sure the Great Miami River does not flood its banks and cause widespread flooding in riverfront communities like Piqua, Troy, Tipp City, Dayton, and Miamisburg.
As part of the flood protection system, the Miami Conservancy District maintains five dams along the Great Miami River.
“We’re looking at the forecast right now, and if we would get that kind of size of rainfall, we would have all five of our dams storing water,” Ekberg said. “The dam will begin to store water and we’ll get a temporary lake behind the dam.”
That lake on the upstream side of the dams means they’re restricting the flow of water and will slowly release it downstream over several days.
This precaution ensures that the river channels can handle all the water without overtopping the levees.
Ekberg said the river water level could come up another five feet from all the rain, which means district staff will be out monitoring the river.
“They may have floodgates that they close,” Ekberg said.
Doing that will stop water from backing up through storm sewers and into the streets of our riverfront communities.
Ekberg expects the Great Miami River to crest about 24 hours after this week’s rain is finished.
With no more rain, it will drop back to normal levels over a few days.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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