Wanda English Burnett, Editor

All Bobbi Little could do was light some candles, get her little rat terrier Cricket, and go to bed. “I could hear the water hitting the side of the house and I knew it was getting higher,” she told The Versailles Republican, in an interview shortly after she was rescued by firemen Matt Jeffries and Dwight Bauman.

Little had become trapped inside her home on 425 S. near Friendship, when the rains caused the area to flood really quickly Tuesday night. She said she had already parked her car on higher ground, but had gone back in her home. Little noted that she wasn’t feeling well and “must have dozed off.” When she woke up it was about 11 p.m. and she knew she was in trouble. “I tried to leave,” she noted, adding, “But, as I was walking out I tripped on a tree branch or something and went down.” She said she could feel the current trying to pull her in and knew she had to get back in the house.

After getting inside, Little said it wasn’t five minutes before she lost power. She couldn’t even use her telephone to call for help. “I changed into dry clothes, got my little dog, Cricket, and got into bed,” she noted. About 1:45 a.m. she knew the water was coming inside the house and wondered how high it would be.

On Wednesday morning her landlord, Kevin Rinear, waded up to the house, but Little wasn’t budging. “The water was even higher then, I figured I’d just wait it out,” she noted.

But, Ken Kasserman, owner of the Friendship Tavern where Little has been employed for about nine years, was worried about her. He told The Versailles Republican he began calling about 6:00 a.m. From where he drove by the house, he could see the water was above the tires and license plate on Little’s car, but wasn’t sure if she had even stayed at the house the night before. He wasn’t taking any chances. He then called another friend, who hadn’t talked with Little. He was getting more concerned. “Then I saw a sheriff’s deputy (Marvin Smith) and told him I thought something was wrong,” he noted.
Kasserman noted that everyone who lives in the area looks out for each other, especially at times when the rain is as heavy as it has been the past couple of days.

About 10:36 a.m. Wednesday, the Friendship Volunteer Fire Department received a call to check out the situation. According to Mark Jeffries, assistant chief, he and Dwight Bauman responded. When they realized they couldn’t get a boat up to the house, they used ropes to perform the rescue task. Little was glad to see the firefighters when they knocked on the door, saying, “We’re here to get you out.”

Still, she had to be tethered to a fireman and while she said she knew she was going to be okay, she told him, “You gotta back me up.” She felt she was losing her footing and didn’t want to go down.

“My son just came in from Indianapolis,” she told the newspaper as she concluded with, “I wasn’t really scared until after the fact, that’s when it hit me.”

Little is grateful to all the rescue crews who went above and beyond to rescue her, along with the concerned people who took the time to find out where she was and if she was safe.
Just after Little was safe, about 12:47 p.m. on Wednesday, firemen responded to another call where two vehicles were submerged. “There was no one in them, I think they were abandoned from the night before,” Jeffries noted. The firemen were busy at that time pumping out the basement at the Bear Creek Baptist Church in Friendship. Jeffries noted that he didn’t do any more than anyone else, they were all busy helping wherever they were needed.

Heavy rains pounded the tri-state leaving many areas flooded with Ripley County being no exception. Commissioner Robert Reiners told The Versailles Republican the county had roads flooded from one side to the other. “It was pretty widespread on Tuesday evening into the morning on Wednesday,” he noted. The commissioners declared a Level I emergency for the county asking motorists to use caution and only travel when necessary. “It was particularly dangerous at night,” Reiners said.

Reiners, along with many others, spent a good portion of the night Tuesday putting up signs warning motorists of the high water. Rosfeld Road near Sunman was covered, according to the commissioner, along with many other roads in the Sunman/Batesville area. Many of the roads south of US 50 were closed.

The Weather Service out of Wilmington, OH, issued a flood warning for Ripley County on Wednesday morning until 4:00 p.m.

All of the area schools operated on a delay system on Wednesday morning, with South Ripley schools and Cavehill Christian Academy eventually going to “closed” status.
Director of Communications Judy Schebler noted that in her 23-year career with the county she never remembers a Level I emergency being declared due to flooding. For that matter, she doesn’t remember schools being closed because of it either.

The 911 communication center was a busy place throughout the ordeal as they provided communication for fire, rescue, medical, and law enforcement personnel. Ripley County sheriff’s deputies were on the roads all night helping wherever they were needed.

PHOTO COMPLIMENTS OF RCSO Bobbi Little is being rescue by ropes from her flooded home on 425 S. near Friendship on Wednesday morning. She is secured to the fireman, with the rope secured to the fire truck.

WOODY BUSH PHOTO This picture could have been taken in many areas of Ripley County Wednesday morning, but this was shot at Friendship with SR 62 being flooded.