Photo by Eric Ayres Low-lying areas on the south end of Wheeling Island are typically among the first to take on water, including residences along South York Street near the main entrance to Wheeling Island Hotel Casino Racetrack.

WHEELING — Wheeling Island resident Tom Samol was busy Sunday putting back items into his basement following this past weekend’s Ohio River flood — the second to occur in the region in about a week.

Samol had been visiting family in Texas when he learned the Ohio River was expected to flood again.

“I got in Thursday night and had a great group of friends who came in and just moved everything back out again,” Samol said. “There was less stuff to move this time because we cleaned up a lot from the last flood.”

The Ohio River crested Saturday at 37.8 feet in Wheeling, according to Ohio County Emergency Management Director Lou Vargo. That’s nearly two feet above the minimum flood stage of 36 feet, but well below the 39.9-foot crest predicted Friday afternoon. It’s also much lower than the 41.49-foot crest that put much of Wheeling Island underwater April 5.

Tom Hart, director of the Marshall County Emergency Management Agency, said the river at Moundsville ended up cresting at 39.5 feet, which is 2.5 feet above flood stage.

River crest projections started falling Saturday, which came as a major relief to many around Wheeling Island. As the inches shrink on the river crest, that means fewer Island homes will suffer through the stress of water-filled basements, damaged property and submerged streets.

“It takes 42 to get me,” said Wheeling Island resident Jeff Coleman on Saturday. “Six inches makes a big difference. A foot makes a huge difference. It lets you know what you’ve got to do. We know my sister gets it at 38, so we go there first.”

Coleman has lived on North Huron Street for the past 42 years, but grew up on Erie Street and has lived on Wheeling Island for 66 years. He has several family members who also live on the Island, and when it floods, they like many others have to spring into action by relocating hot water tanks, appliances and other valuables – getting them out of the basements and lower levels of the houses into the upper floors that stay dry.

“Last week, we moved nine houses – we moved everything up,” Coleman said. “We pulled the furnaces and pulled the hot water tanks. This week, we did four.”

The crew keeps an eye on the river levels and the projected crest. Some use the Wheeling gauge, while others prefer the gauge upstream.

“I go by Pike Island, because they moved the (Wheeling) gauge several hundred feet up the river when they removed the Wharf,” Coleman said of the old riverside parking garage that once stood in the area where Wheeling Heritage Port is now located. “So it’s different. In my lifetime, that’s what has changed. Pike Island is a constant. You just go by the number. I know that if it’s 42 at Pike Island, I have water.”

Ward 2 Wheeling City Councilman Ben Seidler remained out and about on Saturday, visiting neighbors on both the north end and south end of Wheeling Island on a side-by-side ATV, offering water, hand sanitizers and help to anyone in low-lying areas that needed it.

“A one-foot difference means furnace or no furnace to a lot of people,” Seidler said.

Just before the crest on Saturday, the scene on Wheeling Island was quite different compared to the previous week’s flood, which at nearly two feet higher covered many more roads and impacted many more houses.

But throughout most of Wheeling Island, it was business as usual on a warm and sunny spring Saturday. Many residents were out mowing their lawns and going about their day.

Samol’s house on North Front Street was his childhood home starting in 1961 and when his parents passed away he moved back in with his wife. He’s experienced many floods over the years including those in 1972, 1996, 2004 and 2005 – and now two more in the past week or so. He noted the only time the house ever had water on the first floor was during the big 1936 flood.

“In 1972 it was 4.5 inches before it was coming up through the floorboards,” he said.

Preparing for and then cleaning up after a flood is a lot of work, but Samol said Sunday that his home and its scenery make up for it.

“In the summertime you sit on the back porch and you have a wonderful view. Everybody keeps their property maintained and it’s like an open park,” he said of the riverfront homes.

“It’s really nice and a number of people, generational, live in this general area. It’s a great neighborhood. When you’ve lived on the Island most of your life you know what to do and you take floods in stride.

“You know what needs to be done at different levels of the river. You don’t panic. You get yourself taken care of and you go and help neighbors. Or those who are the lowest you go and help them first and you work your way up to the higher properties.”

Island resident Josh Braunlich and his 12-year-old son Beau were taking advantage of the sunshine on Sunday by working on a mower.

“We had to move everything twice. All the contents of our basement,” he said, adding his furnace and hot water tank live on his first floor. “The first round we got water in our basement. The second we didn’t, but we still moved everything because based on the prediction we might have gotten a little water.

“It was 1.5 feet to 2 feet lower than they thought originally. That’s the difference between us getting water or not.”

Braunlich said with the second flood it appears the river, which is receding slower than last week, is taking the mud with it. Much of his yard was still flooded Sunday. He said he wasn’t too surprised a second flood happened because the creeks and streams were still swollen before another round of storms occurred across the region.

“You have to heed the warnings. They’re fairly accurate with their estimates,” he said. “You have to take the warnings serious.”

Josh Braunlich’s wife, Sherie Braunlich, said she grew up on Wheeling Island.

“Hopefully this is it for 20 more years,” she said. “Last week’s flood, it’s kind of cool because everyone comes out and helps each other. This time around I think everybody was just over it. It was kind of depressing this time around. But the first time around it’s kind of cool to see the community come together because the Island doesn’t always get a good name, and there’s some really good people here. It’s a fun place to live, a fun place to grow up. This doesn’t scare us. You live here, you know what you’re in for.”

Sherie Braunlich said an old wives’ tale seems to often hold true for river flooding.

“When the river comes up and it leaves mud she always comes back to get it,” she said. “My mom kept saying it, she comes back to get the mud.”

Island resident Peggy Dolan has lived in her Island home her entire life. She received help from family to prepare for the last two floods.

“My brother, brother-in-law and nephew came to my rescue,” she said, adding they have to move her furnaces to the first floor. They also put in a standpipe that helps prevent flooding in her basement up to 42 feet.

“It still seeps through the walls … but the mud doesn’t come with it,” Dolan said. “It’s a lot of work, but we don’t focus on that. We focus on the other 20 years when we have beautiful weather, and sit by the river and watch the boats go by. … It is a piece of paradise and when the pool’s clean it’s even better. It’s got mud in it from last week.”

Hart said Moundsville and surrounding areas also fared better this time around than they did last week.

“There wasn’t as much flooding as anticipated and what we had experienced the week before,” he said.

Hart noted there were more storms forecast for last night in the region including high winds, heavy rain and tornado threats.

Hart added the county is continuing flood debris pickups this week for residents in unincorporated areas of Marshall County. To have one’s flood trash picked up, call 304-843-1130 to be put on the list.

“We still have people putting stuff out from last week,” he said.