Flooding in Downtown Ottawa

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Flooding has prompted several roads in downtown Ottawa to shut down and become impassable.

According to the Putnam Co. Sheriff's Department, flooding water is covering several roads in the area. One of the major roads that is closed would be West Main Street leaving Ottawa.

The flooding waters prompted Ottawa-Glandorf Local Schools to run on a 2 Hour Delay for January 8. No updates for any closures came in as of 11:30 January 7.

[Unknown]

Flooding again is causing problems on January 15. The river is expected to rise and eventually flood several roads on the south side of Ottawa. Roads may become impassable.

The National Weather Service in North Webster, Indiana is currently forecasting the river to crest around 25 feet Wednesday. There is MUCH uncertainity with the forecast due to the fact this water is coming in from nearby Allen and Hancock counties. The crest level may be much higher and flooding could be worst.

Ottawa and surrounding communities are bracing for the worst after this will be the third time this happened to the town in a little over six months. The town is ready to close any roads if needed as the river continues to rise through Tuesday night.

[Uknown]

Flooding has prompted nearly the entire town to shut down, only a few days ago. Entire downtown Ottawa was flooded along with most county roads. The Putnam Co. Sheriff's Office declared a Level 3 Flood Emergency. The mayor and governor issued a State of Emergency. Gov. Ted Strickland (D-OH) asked Pres. Bush today for a major disaster declaration.

The water has gone down, but all of the houses in mid-town and on the west side are cleaning up. Many homes took apart parts of their houses and set it out by the curb making Ottawa look like a dumpster. Sts. Peter and Paul Elementary was severley flooded and classes will be moved to the OG School District buildings later this week. School has been cancelled for Tuesday & Wednesday for OG.

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After the devestating August flood, the village of Ottawa is still cleaning up from what some call the "Flood of the Century". This was the second highest recorded flood crest at the Blanchard River in Ottawa.

The Blanchard begun to rise on August 20th, 2007 and by that night, the river was already at 27 feet with water on several roads in Ottawa. By Weds., August 21st at 6 a.m., the river already reached 29 feet with major flooding occuring throughout downtown Ottawa on Main St. By Thursday, the river was still rising and didn't crest until 3 p.m. a little over 31 feet, nearly 8 feet above flood stage.

Putnam Co. officials estimated that nearly half of Ottawa's 4,300 residents were evacauted during the flood. Days after the water receded, the damage included nearly 1,000 homes, 115 businesses, 24 government buildings, 5 school facilities, and 4 utility buildings.

Power was also out to most of Ottawa, adding to the problem with the heat.

A Level 3 Emergency was put in place on Tuesday, August 21st for the Village of Ottawa and Putnam County. The sheriff warned residents to stay off area roadways, that most of them were closed especially in and near the village of Ottawa. Many could not even get in or out of the town.

McDonalds in Ottawa recently reopened with a new building after they shut down in August. Most businesses have reopened, but are not running out of their original buildings.

[Unknown]

Flooding has struck again. All downtown businesses were closed February 7th and 8th. All schools in Ottawa and Glandorf were shut down February 7th and 8th. The county declared a State of Emergency and Governor Strickland is touring the area...again.

There has to be a solution soon. We do not want to deal with this again.

[Unknown]

FEBRUARY 2008 FLOOD - top 5 historical crests in Ottawa
The river has crested a little over 29 feet. According to the National Weather Service, at 29.0 feet, widespread major flooding occurs throughout downtown Ottawa. Most roads were impassable in western Ottawa and the downtown district business. Locust St.(near SPPS which was severley flooded in the last August flood) was already impassable Wed, February 6th due to surface flooding. By Thurs, February 7th, flooding had become worst on Locust Street.
Most roadways in the downtown district business were not severley damaged like in August due to the fact residents were very well prepared due to prior indication of a flood after the county received several inches of rainfall.
All Ottawa-Glandorf Local Schools cancelled classes February 7th and 8th due to the flooding that caused road closures all the way up to the Ottawa-Glandorf High School (although flood waters barely reached Huntington Bacnk in Ottawa).
Governor Strickland was in Ottawa February 8th. The county had declared a state of emergency.