The great cleanup began about daybreak this morning.

Hours earlier came the great rains and the great flash flooding.

“This is pretty much the worst I've ever seen here,” said Capt. Ted Codispot of the Butler Fire Department.

Butler firefighters were working overtime this morning pumping out flooded basements caused Wednesday night by torrential rainfall and a swollen Sullivan Run.

Seventy to 80 basements at city homes and businesses took on water. Firefighters had to use pumps to clear as many as 20 basements hit by water between four and five feet, authorities said.

The Butler chapter of the American Red Cross has set up a reception center at the fire station on North Washington Street to assist displaced residents in need of temporary shelter.

The widespread flooding trapped people in homes and businesses and motorists in vehicles beginning about 10 p.m.

It got so harried at one point that the Butler County Swift Water Rescue Team had to be called in shortly before midnight for an unusual distress call.

The SOS was for 13 people trapped inside the Cigarette Shop in the 500 block of West Jefferson Street.

“The water came up so fast that they couldn't get out,” said Ken Blatt, chief of the county's water rescue squad.

About a dozen team members headed out, equipped with three inflatable boats. By the time they arrived, however, the worst was over.

“The rain had stopped and the water had started to recede,” Blatt said. Those initially trapped in the Cigarette Shop were now outside but still surrounded by water about 2 feet high.

Rescuers plopped the boat down and went into action.

“We took five victims at a time and put them in the boat, Blatt said. “We then took them to the end of the water by Hovis.”

He was referring to Hovis Auto & Truck Supply about a block away. The victims, he said, were scared and a bit dumbfounded.

“They were asking a lot of questions,” Blatt said. “Mainly, they were wondering if we had ever seen it this bad.

After assisting the victims “to the shore,” he recounted, rescuers headed back to the store to help the others.

The boat, however, was not needed. “We were able to walk them out by that time,” Blatt said.

Firefighters also were called in to rescue a number of motorists stuck in rising water.

A woman about 10:35 p.m. found herself trapped in her Dodge Dart on North McKean Street near the Maridon Museum. About 20 minutes later, two people found themselves stuck in a car in the 500 block of West New Castle Street.

At 11 p.m., two people got caught in a precaution position: trapped in a car — with water up to the windows — on West Brady Street near Mercer Street.

“Everybody's excuse is always the same,” Codispot said. “They say, 'I didn't expect it would be that deep.' That's after they drive into it.”

No one was injured, Codispot said, despite the anxious moments — several times over — Wednesday night.

The flooding forced authorities to close portions of several roads, including Jefferson, Cunningham, Pillow, Brady and New Castle.

The temporary road closures occurred between 10:30 and 11 a.m., said Butler Police Chief David Adam. The road did not reopen until hours later.

Codispot began his extended duty about 10 p.m., manning the flood of emergency calls — “hundreds,” he guessed.

“Our priority last night was basically helping out people we had trapped,” he said. “With the water coming down so fast, we were making sure people were safe.

“After that, we then go to the property issue.”

The fire department had to borrow more than a half dozen pumps from three other fire departments to complement four of its own.