CADIZ — Harrison County officials are working on recovery efforts following last week’s heavy rain that led to flooding across the county.

Between Thursday and Friday, firefighters and first responders helped to rescue dozens of people from flooded homes and stranded vehicles in the county, mostly in highly affected areas of Bowerston, Jewett and Scio.

On Sunday, the Harrison County Emergency Management Agency posted on social media thanking the American Red Cross and the local fire departments for all their efforts and hard work during and after the storm.

“Thank you to the American Red Cross for disaster relief efforts in our county. … The efforts of our local fire departments have been extraordinary. From water rescues, to opening shelters to pumping out flooded basements. These men and women are always ready to answer the call for help whenever we place it, day or night. And we have heard countless stories of neighbors helping neighbors or residents helping complete strangers. I am proud to live in a county that comes together so quickly to assist each other in times of need,” the EMA stated.

EMA Director Eric Wilson said once the primary focus of ensuring residents were “OK and out of harm’s way,” the focus shifted to cleanup efforts.

“There were multiple water rescues where people couldn’t leave cars or residences safely by foot because the water was so high and fast. The fire departments were out, they had the boats and were able to relocate several people. We had multiple houses in Jewett and some houses in Clear Fork Road outside of Cadiz on (Ohio) Route 9, were relocated due to rising water,” he said. “Once the water began to recede, we went into cleanup mode. Bowerston still has a lot of high water (as of Monday) but Jewett and Scio have started to recede. The local fire departments are assisting with pumping basements. The Red Cross was down in Jewett (over the weekend) — they brought down some cleanup kits. MPLX, the gas and oil company, donated cleaning supplies to help people get cleaned up,”

Wilson said the recovery efforts are underway. He said he is working with township trustees and villages to assess infrastructure such as roads and buildings that sustained damage from the high water, as well as contacting residents whose property was damaged.

“We’re starting to take a look at individual homes that were damaged or received water damage. A lot of the time it’s in the basement and of course, the electrical boxes and furnaces are in the basement so those are critical elements that could make that structure unlivable for some time until it can get fixed,” he said. “Probably over the next week or so, that’s going to be the toughest thing to reach out to everyone that had individual houses affected. That’s what we’re starting on.”

Wilson said he has been in communication with the state EMA to begin the process of applying for recovery funds. He said they must first document all the damage incurred from the flood.

“We’re trying to meet the needs of the people who were impacted. The Scio Fire Department opened as a shelter Thursday night because a lot of people were being displaced. … We’re monitoring to make sure the power is staying on.”

As of Monday, an estimated number of homes and property damaged from the flooding is unknown.

Though there were a few areas hit worse than others, Wison noted that the entire county was affected by heavy rainfall with high water rising in people’s yards and across roadways. He said they were caught off guard with the amount of flooding throughout the county as the rain fell for less than 24 hours. Typically, in the past, it would rain for multiple days straight before the county would experience flooding.

According to the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, rain is supposed to fall today into Wednesday with concerns of possible flooding. Wilson said they are keeping their eyes on the weather forecast to see if or how it will impact the county.