A creek that flooded during a torrential downpour in Ohio swept away a mobile home on Saturday, killing three members of a family of six huddling for safety inside, authorities said. A pregnant mother and two children were killed, and the father and two sons survived, including one found in a tree, said Art Owens, Georgetown village administrator.
"Basically they were swept downstream. We periodically get flash flooding and get water into homes and stuff but nothing of this magnitude," Owens said, reports The Chicago Tribune.
The victims have been identified as 32-year-old Victoria Kennard, 7-year-old Gabriel Barrios and 5-year-old Rosa Barrios.
Eyewitnesses said the mobile home split in half as it was pulled down Red Oak Creek and fractured into smaller pieces as it was swept through trees lining the creek.
Two other sons and the family's father survived and were rescued almost two hours after their home had been swept away. One of the sons was found in a tree and taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Owens said.
Neighbor Wade and Sharon Linville, who were trapped in their own house across the street for about an hour as the waters rose and covered their driveway, said, "It was up in an instant. There was nothing they could do," reports the New York Times.
The flooding was a result of a downpour that drenched Brown County, accumulating 4 inches of rain in a short span of time. Cincinnati has accumulated 3.78 inches of rain in July, according to the National Weather Service, reports USA Today.
Jeff Downing confirmed that his neighbor and half-sister, Victoria Kennerd, was the woman killed. Downing said his sister was engaged to be married to Marco Barrios, a construction worker. "They were really good parents," Downing said, according to USA Today. "They were just trying to make it like everybody else."
