Flooding sweeps eastern Indiana, breaking 113-year-old record
The destruction began Tuesday when a powerful line of thunderstorms raced across the Midwest, producing widespread damaging winds from Illinois into Indiana and Ohio.
Torrential rain and flash flooding drenched the state of Indiana on Aug. 12. Vehicles including a school bus, a semi-truck and an Amazon delivery van struggled to navigate through the floodwaters.
The day after a destructive derecho tore across northern Indiana and parts of Illinois, rivers in eastern Indiana swelled, engulfing homes and reaching historic levels.
The White River at Anderson, Indiana, reached 24.93 feet early Friday morning. This surpassed the previous record of 23.60 feet set in 1913, more than a century ago. The river had not been above 20 feet at this location since 1958.
At Raible Avenue in Anderson, the river crested Friday morning at 21.60 feet, just shy of its record of 23.00 feet, also set in 1913.
"We've had a number of areas primarily on the south side where the amount of rain we received," Muncie, Indiana, Mayor Dan Ridenour told CNN on Friday. "That was the most we've ever received since 1923."
"We got hammered by rain last night, all through the night, and an awesome lightning storm. We just watched the water get worse and worse," said an eyewitness to the flooding in Cambridge City, Indiana.
"[The water] was up to my collarbone," he added.
Well over the major stage at 19 feet, the river at Anderson is expected to recede in the coming days but won't reach minor flood stage until Monday.
Homes and vehicles were overtaken by floodwater after heavy downpours caused the emergency in Cambridge City, Indiana, on Aug. 12.
Dozens of water rescues were performed in at least five Indiana counties. No fatalities have been attributed to the flooding so far. Authorities are still searching for an 18-year-old who jumped into a river in Delaware County, Indiana, on Wednesday night. A local disaster emergency was declared in the county Thursday afternoon.
Recovery efforts from Tuesday's derecho were complicated Wednesday when another round of thunderstorms swept across eastern Indiana, producing additional wind damage, power outages and torrential rainfall.
Flash flooding developed in parts of Lake, Porter, Jasper and Newton counties as rainfall rates approached 3 inches per hour in some locations. A gauge near Roselawn measured 2.9 inches of rain in less than an hour.
An amateur rain gauge in New Castle, Indiana, measured 11.23 inches of rain from 9 a.m. Aug. 11 to 4:30 p.m. Aug. 12. Another gauge in Modoc measured more than a foot of rain this week. At one location, the rainfall was considered intense enough to be a 1-in-1,000-year amount.
Seven flash flood emergencies were issued by the National Weather Service on Wednesday. Such emergency warnings are rare, with only 50 issued nationwide this year.
Additional rounds of rain and thunderstorms can continue through Saturday, renewing the risk of flash flooding," AccuWeather Meteorologist Elizabeth Danco said. "The rainfall can also exacerbate any ongoing flooding in the area. Some of the thunderstorms can turn severe on Saturday with the risk for localized damaging wind gusts and hail."
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