20 Evacuated After Floods in Indiana

by in USA

Indiana also saw its share of snow melt flooding over the weekend and late last week. The flooding comes on the heels of record snowfalls throughout the U.S.

On Friday, 21 February 2014, flooding in Huntingdon, Huntington County, Indiana, forced as many as 40 families to evacuate their homes according to Homeland Security Emergency Management, who also advised people and drivers to avoid the area around 1515 East State St. to Lindley. Several roads (listed here) were closed in the area.

In parts of Howard County, levels of the Wildcat Creek were of some concern, although there had been no reports of flooding, and colder temperatures later in the weekend and early next week should hopefully mean the creek won’t break its banks.

According to a local media report, Janice Hart, director of Howard County Emergency Management Agency said “As of 9:30 a.m., the Wildcat was at 8.77 feet. Usually we start seeing (flooding) problems when it hits 9.63 to 10 feet.”

However, further along the Creek in Tippecanoe County, some areas were already seeing flooding on Friday 21 February 2014. Some homes in the Barton Beach area were flooded and around 20 residents had to be rescued from their homes.

According to a local news report, Tippecanoe County Sheriff Tracy Brown said.

“Right now, we’re dealing with an ice jam near the mouth of the Wildcat Creek where it joins the Wabash River,” Brown said Friday morning. “So that has the Wildcat Creek backed up.
“We have been out a couple of times now — the first shortly after 1 o’clock this morning to evacuate some families. Our crews are back on the scene again doing the same thing.”

There have been several reports of ice jams across the state, including the ice jam pictured below in Montgomery County, Indiana.

Some of the snow melt and ain has resulted in some minor flooding on some roads across Indiana, which, should temperatures drop again, will mean more ice on the roads for drivers to contend with. This has prompted Indiana State Police to issue safety tips for driving in high water conditions.