Days of torrential rain have pushed the White River past levels last seen during the catastrophic flood of 1913, swamping neighborhoods across central Indiana and leaving at least six people dead, state officials said on Saturday.
The Indiana State Emergency Operations Center said the dead include a 4-year-old boy, along with three females and two males who died after the storm system moved in on Tuesday, Reuters reported. Two of the deaths were in Delaware County, east of Indianapolis, and the others were spread across Jennings, Lake, Porter and LaPorte counties, according to the center’s tally as cited by Reuters. An Indiana Department of Homeland Security spokesperson also confirmed a storm-related death in White County, The Associated Press reported, a sign that county-by-county counts were still being reconciled.
In Delaware County, sheriff’s deputies on Friday found the body of a 58-year-old woman who they believe died after attempting to drive through high water, according to the AP.
A river above its 1913 mark
The National Weather Service said parts of the region picked up more than 11 inches of rain over two days. The White River crested above 24 feet in Anderson and Noblesville, beating records that had stood since 1913. Gov. Mike Braun said water was moving into Indianapolis from upstream areas that received between 6 and almost 12 inches, even though the capital itself had not been hit by the heaviest downpours.
Drone footage recorded by NBC News on Saturday showed brown water filling streets in the Ravenswood neighborhood on the city’s north side, reaching front doors and covering parked cars as residents paddled kayaks and rowboats between homes.
“This is one of those once-in-a-lifetime type floods,” Jacob Spence, director of Marion County Emergency Management, told the AP. “So yeah, this is an unprecedented event and unfortunately we’re setting some new records.”
Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett, who declared a local emergency on Friday, told residents near the river to leave and described the event as the city’s worst flooding in more than three decades, according to Newsweek. Rita Reith, a spokesperson for the Indianapolis Fire Department, said crews had rescued 91 people and 45 pets by early Saturday afternoon. National Guard vehicles joined the rescue effort.
“The water is still rising, so heed the warnings,” said Todd Wilson, who leads the city’s public works department.
Evacuations spread beyond the capital
State officials reported more than 350 evacuations in Delaware County and additional evacuations in Tipton County, Newsweek reported. In Indianapolis, officials ordered residents out of the River Road Apartments immediately after floodwater eroded ground near the buildings and raised concerns about their structural stability. City leaders also identified four more areas at risk as the crest moved south through the city.
The damage was heaviest along the river corridor running from Hamilton County into the northern suburbs of Indianapolis. Flood warnings also remained in effect along stretches of the Wabash River, Wildcat Creek, the Tippecanoe River, the East Fork White River and the Driftwood River, and forecasters cautioned that some gauges could stay above flood stage for days as runoff kept moving downstream.
More rain was on the way. Flash flood watches and warnings covered a wide band of central Indiana on Saturday, and forecasters in Warren County recorded 2 inches of rain in just six hours.
Federal help requested
Braun said President Donald Trump told him on Saturday that Indiana’s request for a presidential emergency declaration would be approved, clearing the way for federal assistance.
“My heart is with the families and loved ones of the five Hoosiers we have lost and every family whose life has been changed by these storms,” Braun said in a statement issued before the sixth death was announced. “Please continue to take flooding seriously and stay away from floodwaters.”
The same storm system has caused trouble across the Midwest all week, producing tornadoes, heavy rain and flash flooding from the Chicago area to western Pennsylvania. At one point on Tuesday, close to 1 million utility customers in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky had no electricity. In Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine said a person died in the village of Roseville after floodwater kept first responders from reaching them.
Emergency managers repeated the weather service’s “Turn Around, Don’t Drown” warning, noting that most flood deaths happen in vehicles and that just 6 inches of fast-moving water can knock a person down.
