A creek in Ripley, Ohio has flooded during a severe downpour, sweeping away a mobile home late Saturday killing three members of a family of six who were supposed to be clustering for safety inside. The mother, her son and daughter were killed in the tragedy. While the father and two sons survived including the one who was found in a tree as told by the Georgetown village administrator, Art Owens. Owens said, "Basically they were swept downstream." The father and sons were rescued two hours after the disaster and taken to Cincinnati hospital.
The Cincinnati Enquirer has reported that eyewitnesses have said that the mobile home split in half and broke into smaller pieces as it was being swept through trees on the way down to the creek. The neighbors, Wade and Sharon Linville, were also trapped in their own house across the street for about an hour as the waters rose to cover their driveway.
"It was up in an instant." Wade Linville, reported, "There was nothing they could do."
The mobile home was just a few meters away from Red Oak Creek in Ripley which is about an hour southeast of Cincinnati. Owens said that the rain was pouring so heavily at four inches an hour last Saturday night. The rainstorm also flooded several streets in Georgetown to a depth of more than 3 feet.
"We periodically get flash flooding, and get water into homes and stuff, but nothing of this magnitude," Owens reported.
The body of the family's daughter, a girl is about 5 years or age, was not found until 9 a.m. the following day. The National Weather Service has issued flash flood warning for much of central and southwest Ohio, including Brown County, until Sunday midnight. The surviving boy was reported to have told his uncle that they were gathered together in the bathroom of their mobile home as the creek began to rise.
