GROVES — A barefooted Norma Grice stood in her garage, rolling paint on the cement floor on a cool Monday morning.

Behind a nearby wooden fence, her Quaker parrots are making noises seemingly enjoying the temperature and sunshiny day and two small dogs come out to see what’s up.

“I always wanted to ride out a storm. My husband, he died five years ago, I told him I wanted to ride out a storm,” Grice, a resident of Oleander Lane, said. “Well my wish came true. I don’t do it again, no ma’am.”

Grice’s home saw major flooding, as did many in her area of the city. Groves City Manager D. Sosa estimates between 2,400 to 2,500 homes were impacted, most on the south side of Groves, 32^nd Street, the Taft school area and 25^th Street as well as some businesses and apartments along 25^th Street and Gulfway Drive.

Grice, 72, weathered the storm at home with two dogs, two cats and her birds but the flooding was not what she ever expected to see.

Refusing to leave, she had placed sandbags at entranceways and as the water began to flood in she through of putting rugs to stop the water. One son told her to use towels because she can wring them out but even this wasn’t enough to stop the flow of water. She tried to bail out the water into sinks in her home, trudging through knee-deep water.

“I told my sister, I have a big old table,” she said. “I thought I’d be on top of it with my animals.”

Little did she know that she would need that table to store lower items in her home so they wouldn’t float off.

At one point she dropped her cell phone and lost contact with family.

“I (last) talked to her about 1 a.m. so as soon as I woke up I came here,” son Craig Grice said.

Craig entered the area on nearby Ash Avenue where he met a man with a Go Devil boat that allowed him to reach his mother.

The pile of sheetrock and household belongings in front of Grice’s home isn’t much different from piles in front of other homes. A few blocks away on Nottingham Lane, Donna Menkin continued cataloging her belongings as her husband Bob Menkin searched for — and found — some paperwork for his vehicle.

Their home has been gutted, leaving the upper portion of sheetrock and studs below.

Both families appreciate the care and attention they’ve received from volunteers and church members who have delivered meals and water, called and texted and more.

The city fared pretty well considering the circumstances. First responders worked 48 hours to help relocated and save people from the flooded areas, Sosa said.

“The fire and police as well as public works did a fantastic job,” Sosa said.

The city had two shelters open — one at the activity building and one at First Baptist Church.

“I cannot tell you how many citizens helped with rescue in personal boats and (water)crafts,” he said.

Sosa said he is pleased with the city’s drainage during the catastrophic flooding event from Tropical Storm Harvey.

“But remember, it is not the total amount that falls, it is how fast it falls,” he said. We all rely on DD7 (drainage District 7) to move the water and I think they did a good job. How do you really prepare for between 50 to 60 inches of rain in a five day period?”

The city has contracted with DRC to remove debris and Republic Waste opened their landfill for flood debris. The city is now back on schedule with garbage pickup.