FINDLAY — Communities in northwest Ohio took stock of flood damage as forecasters warned of severe thunderstorms moving through the area Sunday afternoon.

Findlay residents banded together late last week to fill sandbags as torrential rains swelled the Blanchard River. About 50 homes and 12 businesses experienced major damage in the ensuing flood, meaning their first floors were inundated, Findlay Mayor Lydia Mihalik said.

During the height of the flood on Friday, Ms. Mihalik said, only one north-south corridor was navigable in the city. 

By Sunday afternoon, “all but maybe one or two” roads were open.

“Obviously, it is a traumatic event when something like this happens, so who knows how long it will take people to recover completely,” Ms. Mihalik said.

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Findlay’s Dietsch Brothers candy and ice cream shop on Tiffin Avenue closed Friday and Thursday, but the site suffered no permanent damage.

“Just a lot of cleaning,” said Erika Dietsch-Brokamp, manager at the company’s Main Street location.

The Blanchard reached major flood stage in Findlay on Thursday before cresting at 16.53 feet on Friday afternoon. It dropped below major flood stage on Saturday at about 3:30 p.m., National Weather Service data show.

The river was down to about 8 feet on Sunday afternoon when the service issued a severe thunderstorm warning. The warning said isolated storms with heavy rain, gusty winds, and quarter-sized hail could pop up in the region.

Forecasters said the Sunday afternoon storms were not likely to cause additional flooding in Findlay.

“I wouldn’t say there’s as much water available in the atmosphere as in the previous week’s storms, and these are moving storms,” said Geoffrey Heidelberger of the service’s northern Indiana office.

Still, the National Weather Service extended flood warnings for the Blanchard River near Ottawa and the Tiffin River near Stryker until Tuesday.

The Tiffin River warning will remain in place until Tuesday evening, the service said on its website. The river near Stryker crested at 13.07 feet at about 9:30 a.m. Saturday. The river will fall below the 11-foot flood stage at about 6 p.m. Monday, the service said.

The Blanchard River warning will remain in place until Tuesday morning. The river near Ottawa crested at 27.55 feet at about 5 p.m. Saturday. Forecasters predict the river will fall below the 23-foot flood stage at about 8 a.m. Monday.

Clubhouse Pizza in Ottawa remained undamaged by the flooding as of Sunday afternoon.

“The river is right behind us,” said owner David Wakham. “But it just closed down one of the roads near us.”

Flooding was also reported late last week at Eagle Creek, which flows into the Blanchard, and the Portage River in Wood and Sandusky counties.

“A slow fall in river levels will occur over the next several days,” the service said.

The first half of July has been unusually rainy, according to data from the service’s northern Indiana office.

Van Wert, Ohio averages 4.35 inches of precipitation in July. As of Sunday the service had already recorded 5.66 inches of precipitation there, forecasters said. Lima, which records 3.87 inches of rain in a typical July, already had received 3.8 inches as of Sunday. The service’s Cleveland office could not be reached Sunday.

The year to date has also been particularly wet. Both Lima and Van Wert had their third-highest year-to-date rainfall totals on record as of Sunday, coming in at 32 inches and 29.47 inches, respectively, forecasters said.

The average year-to-date rainfall for Van Wert is 20.7 inches. In Lima, the figure is 21.03 inches.

Contact Victorio Cabrera at vcabrera@theblade.com, 419-724-6050 or on Twitter @vomcabrera.

First Published July 17, 2017, 4:00 a.m.