Days of storms and flooding in Indiana left at least six people dead as flood waters peaked in Indianapolis’s White River – and rains were expected to ease in the state capital region and other parts of the state on Sunday. A four-year-old boy, two men and three women were among those who had died since the storms began on 11 August, state homeland security department spokesperson Liz Woods said. Officials in Jennings county, in the southern end of the state, said the boy was killed on Tuesday when a tree crashed through his bedroom during strong winds.
We’re going to push through this as a community.” The other victims included a 19-year-old man whose body was recovered on Saturday. Officials in Delaware county, located east of Indianapolis, said Matthew Morey had jumped off a bridge into the rushing waters of the Mississinewa River with friends three days earlier. Family and friends gathered earlier in the week at the bridge to remember the recent high school graduate, who was headed to Purdue University, and warn of the dangers of swollen rivers.
Delaware county officials also said they recovered the body of Stephanie Sallee and her dog in a cornfield on Saturday, not far from her car. They believe the 58-year-old had been driving on a flooded road when the vehicle was swept away. In a statement shared with local news outlets, her family remembered her as a compassionate and loving person who adored her grandchildren and other young relatives.
In Indianapolis, flooding from the White River peaked early on Sunday morning, with high water levels expected to hold for a few hours before beginning to recede, according to the city public works department. The agency said it would reopen the city’s floodgates on Sunday and that emergency shelters remained open after hundreds of homes along the river and its canals were evacuated. First responders used boats to rescue people stranded by rapidly rising flood waters.
Recovery efforts, meanwhile, started in earnest as northern parts of the state began drying out. Heavy rain and flash flooding were still possible across portions of the central part of the state throughout the day, the National Weather Service (NWS) warned. The NWS urged residents to check river and weather forecasts and “stay out of dangerous, fast moving waters” as heavy rain has led to significant flooding along most rivers and creeks across central Indiana.
Roads and bridges across the state have also been seriously damaged or washed out entirely by the powerful rushing waters. Nearly 130,000 utility customers statewide remained without power by midday Sunday, down from a peak of about 300,000, according to Woods and the online utility tracker PowerOutage.us. Heavy rains have hammered Indiana over the past week, causing rivers to crest and setting new records.
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