A flooded city is seen in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, in Lafitte, La. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Flooding could occur across the local region today in the wake of Hurricane Ida’s remnants, which were expected to dump anywhere between 2 and 6 inches of rain on Belmont County early this morning.

Glenn Trudo, assistant director of the Belmont County Emergency Management Agency, said Tuesday evening that local emergency officials met online earlier in the day with representatives of the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh.

Trudo said the NWS presented multiple models of how the storm could play out across the area, and all indicated different but heav amounts of rain. He added that the bulk of that rainfall was expected to happen between 1 and 6 a.m. today.

“We could have possible flash flooding,” Trudo said. “They don’t think the river will reach flood stage.”

Trudeau said the county EMA had launched a “partial activation” on Tuesday. He said this meant that extra volunteers would be on hand at the county’s 911 call center while others would be reporting on conditions from their homes and still others would travel around the county monitoring streams and roads.

In addition, Trudeau said ham radio operators were prepared to relay messages if it became necessary, and designated emergency shelters are always on standby.

Trudeau emphasized that flash flooding can occur anywhere, but he did cite some locations that often experience issues with high water. These include Neffs, Shadyside, and Barton as well as the Pipe Creek area. He added that street flooding frequently happens in Martins Ferry and St. Clairsville.

Hurricane Ida’s remnants dumped rain from Gulf Coast states into New England on Tuesday, while Tropical Storm Kate swirled far from Atlantic shores and another tropical depression was brewing off the coast of Africa. Ida, which weakened to a tropical depression with top sustained winds of 30 miles, was centered over northern Mississippi and Tennessee, but the National Weather Service said flash flooding was most likely in central Pennsylvania, northern West Virginia and western Maryland, where 6-10 inches could fall. Forecasters also warned of higher wind gusts, and said Ida was most likely to spawn tornadoes in eastern Alabama, western Georgia and the Florida Panhandle.

Meanwhile in Wheeling, city and Ohio County officials remained proactive, preparing for any possible flooding over the next few days. Lou Vargo, director of the Wheeling-Ohio County Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency, said as of mid-day Tuesday, National Weather Service officials in Pittsburgh reported that, while the Wheeling area may get a “couple” of inches of rain through Wednesday, the bulk of the rain is expected to stay south of the local area. The NWS said there was a moderate risk of flooding

“So we’re considering this just like a major rain storm like we’ve had in the past,” Vargo explained.

Yet Vargo was quick to point out the National Weather Service is saying if the storm tracks just a “couple of degrees” further north than predicted, it could double the rainfall in the Wheeling area — from 2 to 3 inches to 4 to 6 inches. If that happens, the Ohio County Emergency Operations Center — consisting of various city and county department heads — will be activated.

“Then we can make command decisions,” Vargo said. “But with all the predictions now, the river is going to come up, but not get into the flood stage.”

The Wheeling Fire Department’s swift water team has been “put on alert.”

Regardless of how much rain they bring, the remnants of Hurricane Ida will have ramifications that reach into the weekend, as the Wheeling Vintage Raceboat Regatta, scheduled for this weekend, has been canceled.

Regatta organizers came to the decision Tuesday afternoon following weather predictions by the National Weather Service. Ida’s heavy rains, forecast to hit the Ohio Valley between Tuesday night and Wednesday, will put the Ohio River’s water too high for the boats to race safely this weekend, according to Regatta Co-Chair Debbie Joseph.

According to the NWS’s Tuesday morning update, the Ohio River is predicted to crest at almost 32 feet at 2 a.m. Friday. Regatta organizers said water enters Heritage Port, where the Regatta is headquartered, at 17 feet and water enters the brick area where the pits are located at 24 feet, which would leave mud and debris where the boats would be stationed. The Ohio River is predicted to remain above 25 feet through 2 a.m. Saturday and not fall below 24 feet until later Saturday morning.

The rising river level accompanied by high amounts of river debris would make racing hazardous for boaters, according to Joseph. She said part of Heritage Port is expected to be covered by water, making it impossible to put the cranes and necessary equipment near the bottom of the port.

“It just wasn’t going to happen,” Joseph said. “If it (the rainfall) happened three days earlier, I think we could have gotten it done, but with hitting when it did … there was absolutely nothing we could do. …

“The decision was made. It’s kind of saying, ‘OK, Mother Nature, you got us on this one. When you live on the river and have events planned for the river. You just have to go with the hand that you’re dealt.”

Joseph said while it’s unfortunate they had to cancel the event, one heartwarming thing that came about even after the cancellation of the event is that about 75% of the 60 boaters that were registered for the event told the committee to give their registration fees to Easter Seals as a donation.

While the event was canceled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and again this year due to predicted river conditions, Joseph said plans are being made to move forward with next year’s event, which is scheduled to return to Heritage Port on Sept. 3-4, 2022