CINCINNATI — Crews are now assessing all of the recent flood damage left behind and trying to get roads back open and residents back into their homes.

What You Need To Know

  • On Friday, Cincinnati city crews were clearing debris from streets and restoring power to open roads shut down from recent flooding 

  • Cincinnati's mayor says it's still too early to tell the cost of the clean up and whether it'll be considered a disaster 

  • City leaders say the last time there was major flooding was in 2018, when it was declared a disaster

Flood restoration crews have been busy ripping out walls and walking through mud to try and clear away flood damage in Cincinnati. 

"We're just getting all the buildings, the material finished, materials, flooring, drywall removed, then we'll set up drying system in here to dry all the buildings out," said Flood Restoration Company owner John Winther.

There's not just damage inside businesses. Just outside, roads have been blocked for days because of what was under the water.

"A lot of times when you see the road barricades, you might not see the hazards that are beyond. Where we're standing right now is under almost five feet of water," Cincinnati Assistant Fire Chief Matt Flagler said. 

He said they've been working around the clock and, on Friday, were able to get some main roads downtown back open, but he said there's still more work to do.

"The roadbed itself can be damaged. We've got a lot of potholes repairing. We had big trees and dumpsters and all sorts of things across the road," Flagler said. "So we're clearing that out. We're restoring all the traffic signals that we had to take down because of the flooding."

It's flood damage repair that he said they haven't seen since 2018, the last time the area was hit with major flooding.

"I can say that we did declare disaster in 2018," City of Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval said.

The mayor said it's still too early to tell how much this might cost and whether this week's major flood will be declared a disaster.

"If we're not able to recover the damage based on the resources or the the powers that we have, then we will pursue that in collaboration with the state," he said.

A disaster declaration would provide the city with more funding and resources for the cleanup. Right now, they're depending on volunteers. They're planning a citywide cleanup Saturday to help get streets, parks, homes and businesses through the mess.

"We hope to have everybody open as soon as possible," Winther said.

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