Bellefontaine Flood, Day 1: The Night the Water Came

August 19–20, 2026 | Michigan Street, Bellefontaine, Ohio

When we bought our home on Michigan Street about three and a half years ago, there was a large pond-like area directly behind our property, separated from our neighborhood by a wall. At the time, we didn’t really know what either of them were or what purpose they served.

Over time, we learned that it was a retention pond and that the neighborhood had experienced significant flooding in 2019—something we hadn’t been told when we purchased the house. And it wasn’t until the events of August 19, 2026, and everything we’ve learned in the days since, that we began to understand just how much history there may be behind the problems affecting this neighborhood.

Until that night, the retention pond and wall were simply part of the landscape behind our home. We had no reason to believe that, within a matter of hours, the system behind our property would become the source of water rushing into our yard and ultimately our house.

Wednesday, August 19th

Documenting my life is part of my artistic process, and it’s also something I do to compensate for my memory, so I take a lot of photos. At our Ohio home, I often photograph the backyard through our dining room window.

It had been raining all day. Around 5 PM, I noticed flooding in our neighbor’s yard and water collecting against the retention wall behind ours. I had never seen that much water in either yard before, so I started documenting what was happening.

Timeline

• ~5:00 PM — Water was standing at the back of our yard and flooding our neighbor’s yard.
• 8:02 PM — Water had reached halfway across our backyard and was at the base of the shed. We were concerned, but still didn’t think it would get much farther.
• 8:39 PM — After talking with a neighbor about the flooding, I went inside and looked out the dining room window. The water had already reached our patio wall and was beginning to spill into the patio. I took a photo, yelled for Karl and Alex, and we started preparing for the possibility that it could reach the house.
• 8:45–9:23 PM — Karl and I worked to rescue belongings from the shed while Alex began securing the basement. We waded through knee-deep water in the dark, using flashlights and phone lights. Boxes were already soaked and collapsing, and some belongings were beginning to float. Karl carried what we could save toward higher ground while I held things in place and helped light the way.
• 9:09 PM — The patio was flooding and the water reached the threshold of the house.
• ~9:15 PM — Water began entering the basement through the exterior door. At first, we expected only a few inches and tried using laundry, paper and other absorbent materials to slow it.
• After 9:15 PM — As the water continued to rise, we shifted from trying to contain it to saving our belongings. We carried valuables and electronics upstairs, dismantled our file server, moved the refrigerator onto the stair landing, raised the washer and dryer onto crates, and repeatedly moved other belongings higher as the water climbed.
• Later that night — The city’s Safety Director checked on us and sent workers with sandbags for the back doors. The water continued rising and quickly submerged them.
• Overnight — We continued moving and raising belongings for hours, shutting off breakers as needed. Every time we thought we had moved things high enough, the water rose again.
• ~6:00 AM, August 20 — Physically exhausted after working through the night, we finally went to bed. There were already approximately 14–15 inches of water in the basement, and we knew more was coming—the water outside was still about 19 inches high against the patio doors.
• Morning, August 20 — While we slept, the water continued rising, eventually reaching approximately 20–21 inches inside the basement.

The Water Came Fast

This video montage documents the first two days of the flood—from around 9 PM on August 19, as the water reached our home, through August 21, when it finally receded. It captures how quickly the water rose, our efforts to save what we could, and what remained as the water slowly disappeared.

Through the Night

The night was frantic and physically exhausting. For hours, we waded through floodwater, carrying things upstairs and lifting whatever we couldn’t move onto higher surfaces. It was backbreaking work, but every time we thought we had done enough, the water rose again.

One of the most frightening moments was looking through the patio doors at the wall of water pressing against them. We didn’t know how high it would get or whether the glass would hold. All we could do was keep working and hope we had moved our most important belongings high enough.

Often, we hadn’t. Boxes we thought were secure began floating, tipping over or collapsing as the cardboard became saturated. We’d wade back through the water only to discover something we thought we’d saved submerged—like Alex’s PS3 sitting underwater after the box supporting it collapsed.

There was a constant calculation: What matters most? What can we still save? How high is high enough?

By the time we finally stopped around 6 AM, we were completely exhausted. We had done everything we could think to do, but with approximately 19 inches of water still pressing against the outside of the patio doors, we knew the water inside would continue to rise while we slept.