Flooding Demoralizes Ohioans

FINDLAY, Ohio (AP) -- Homeowners trudged through frigid, waist-deep water Thursday and Friday to assess damage after the Blanchard River burst its banks, flooding basements for the second time in five months.

Joe Langhals, left, and Ryan Krueger clean up floodwater from The Sign Shack in Findlay, Ohio, Thursday.

The flooding, which began Wednesday, wasn't as bad as flooding in August -- the city's worst since 1913 -- but some residents said they'd had enough.

"Time to move," said Dameion Cortez, who came home to find his basement furnace underwater.

Across the street, Airon Ramsey waded almost a block through water to feed his cat.

"I got in the door and my toes were already blue," he said. "I believe in hypothermia now."

Fire Capt. Tom DeFrieze said only three people needed help getting out of their homes Thursday, and that the rescue boats on standby weren't needed. Only a dozen people took refuge at a shelter outside the flood zone.