Major flooding expected along portions of the Ohio River Friday

FRIDAY MORNING UPDATE:

The Ohio River is cresting up near Parkersburg, but water levels continue to rise for places like Pomeroy and Racine. Some roads are flooded, and water is starting to get very close to businesses.

However, there is some good news - the latest NWS hydrograph shows a 1-2 foot lesser crest than previously forecast for Pomeroy. This means Pomeroy will now fall into the moderate category instead of major.

The same can be said for Racine a little upstream. Again, a little too close for comfort - but not to the critical 48 feet level when the town would start to flood.

Further downstream, Huntington, Ashland and Portsmouth won't see their crest until Saturday Night into Sunday. Thankfully, only minor flood stage looks to be reached in some of those areas. This can still result in some low-lying roads being flooded, though. Also, stay away from the riverbank for a few days - as it could be unstable given the high, swift water.

Be safe out there!

THURSDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE:

Much of the Ohio River from Point Pleasant north is above flood stage and continues to rise. A Weather Alert is in effect into the weekend for areas along the Ohio River and tributaries nearby.

Forecast crests haven't changed much from Wednesday with major flooding expected in Pomeroy on Friday and very close to major flood stage in Racine. Crests should occur by around midday Friday.

Further downstream in Point Pleasant the crest is expected by evening with moderate flooding impacts and some backwater along the Kanawha River.

Huntington will see a crest by Saturday evening/night, with minor flooding expected. There will be backwater flooding along the tributaries flowing into the Ohio such as the Mud and Twelve Pole Creek.

How does this compare to recent floods? For Pomeroy and Racine it will be very similar to the one in 2018 that caused serious damages to Main Street businesses in Pomeroy.

For Point Pleasant this should crest about 2-3 feet lower than 2018, which flooded much of Route 2. Parts of the roadway will likely flood Friday and Saturday but likely not as extensively as six years ago.

Huntington's last significant flood was March 2021. This looks to crest about 3.5 to 4 feet lower, so less impact is expected. Still, backwater flooding along the Guyandotte, Mud, and Twelve Pole Creek are likely into the weekend.

WEDNESDAY UPDATE:

The severe storms have moved on but we'll still be dealing with the aftermath not just with cleanup and power outages, but serious flooding for portions of the Ohio River in the coming days.

River flood warnings are up for the Ohio River near and north of Robert C. Byrd Lock.

Smaller tributaries have flooded today in portions of Meigs, Gallia and Lawrence counties. Those will crest today and start to drop, but that water will flow into the Ohio River.

The biggest factor, however, isn't what happened around here but up in northern West Virginia and southwest Pennsylvania, where three to five inches of rain fell over the last 48 hours. All that water is running off into the Ohio and working downstream, and this will result in most locations along the Ohio River at least reaching flood stage from Thursday into the weekend.

Right now the most serious flooding looks to occur in the Pomeroy/Racine area Thursday into Friday, with the forecast crest expected to be close to that reached in February 2018, when serious flooding damaged many businesses in downtown Pomeroy. That level was 50.4 feet and the forecast crest for this Friday is 50.7 feet.

Further downstream, since the Kanawha isn't running as high, Point Pleasant is expected to reach moderate flood stage Friday but not get quite as high as 2021 or 2018.

Huntington will crest just above flood stage Friday night into Saturday, with Portsmouth cresting just above flood stage late Saturday.

Flooding here is in the minor range but expect some backwater issues on some tributaries through the weekend.