GOWANDA, N.Y. — The clean-up from flash flooding in Gowanda on Tuesday started even before the rain stopped in mid-morning.

Unlike five years ago, when an aggressive cleanup did not begin for two or three days after the flooding of Aug. 9, 2009, a combination of public and private equipment was waiting in the wings for a swift response in the flood-prone community.

It was around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday when the fast-moving waters of Thatcher Brook surged onto South Chapel Street and Walnut streets.

Residents on both streets were hard hit in the 2009 flooding.

This time, it was bad, but not as bad. An elderly couple on Aldrich Street was evacuated. Many basements were flooded, but most living areas were spared.

Many residents who had signed up to receive flood warnings on their cell phone or home phones, email or text alert reported hearing their cell phones beep during the night after the thunderstorm started.

Deb Brown of Walnut Street said damage at her home was limited to the yard. Someone came and plowed several inches of mud from her driveway.

“I went out and looked at the creek about 7 a.m., “ she said. “It wasn’t an hour later when it went over.” She said she heard a warning from her cell phone earlier.

Gowanda Streets Superintendent Gary Denea said he had a crew at the South Chapel Street bridge trying to remove a fence to get to debris in Thatcher Brook around 7:30 a.m. when the brook breached its banks and forced them to retreat.

The cleanup is expected to continue today on Walnut, South Chapel Jamestown, Aldrich and Center streets.

Bill Edington, who was cleaning up mud-coated flood debris from in front of his Walnut Street home, said the damage was nowhere as bad as the 2009 flood. He blames Thatcher Brook. “They just don’t take care of the creek. The debris plugs the culvert and all the water can’t get through.”

Damage from the heavy rains — as much as 2.6 inches Tuesday morning — extended to much of western Cattaraugus County.

Cattaraugus County Public Works Commissioner Joseph Pillittere estimated damage to county roads, culverts and shoulders would exceed $200,000. Several county roads were closed Tuesday morning when water backed up from culverts. All have since reopened, although crews will spend the next several days cleaning up and making repairs.

Also closed for a time Tuesday due to water over the road or washouts were Route 353 north of Cattaraugus, Route 242 between Little Valley and Coldspring, and Route 62 in Dayton. They were also reopened, but flood damage remains to be repaired.

There was no immediate estimate of damage in the village of Gowanda.

“Some of these people are just getting back on their feet from the last flood,” said one man at the Tim Hortons restaurant in Gowanda Tuesday afternoon.

“It’s always the same areas that get hit,” said Gowanda Historian Phil Palen as he documented damage from mud and debris on Walnut Street.

The reason for the flooding is always the same, he said, a box culvert on South Chapel Street. It gets plugged by debris from upstream and overflows onto South Chapel Street.

The Gowanda High School sports stadium, which was devastated by silt from floodwaters five years ago, was again under water, threatening Gowanda’s 2014 football home games.

Chris Baker, Cattaraugus County Emergency Services director, said the quick response from multiple sources to damage from flooding in Gowanda and elsewhere reflects a response that has been developed over the past few years.