Wind and Rain Lash Indiana as Flood Threat Looms

The same storm system that spawned tornadoes that killed hundreds in the South dumped more rain April 28 on parts of Indiana already bracing for floods and toppled trees onto cars along a busy highway. No injuries were reported.

Troopers temporarily closed a section of the busy Interstate 65 in southern Indiana after high winds sent trees smashing onto vehicles around midnight, state police said. The interstate reopened early in the morning.

Gusts of up to 50 mph also battered much of the Indianapolis area.

The weather service said the system that caused the Indiana storms earlier spawned the deadliest tornadoes seen in the South in four decades.

Michael Koch, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis said crews would check the damage at a site near Plainfield in Hendricks County where an awning on a horse trailer was damaged, to determine if it was caused by a tornado. A funnel cloud also was reported near Brownsburg but it caused no damage.

The storm also deposited as much as 2 inches of rain in west central Indiana, and could herald flooding in rural areas along the Wabash River and in Wildcat Creek, Howard County, in the coming days, weather service hydrologist Al Shipe said.

“Living on the river, it’s expected. And now we know what to do when it floods,” Alice Smith, who has been living near the Oakdale Dam with her husband since 1999, told the Journal & Courier of nearby Lafayette. “Of course we have a plan ready. We have a 1-year-old son to take care of, so we have to be ready.”

Meanwhile, residents along the swollen Ohio River in southern Indiana watched as the water level rose. Some have already evacuated their homes ahead of the anticipated flood.

Vanderburgh County Emergency Management Agency director Sherman Greer said power was shut off to homes at the Pleasant Ridge Mobile Home Park northeast of Evansville and residents have been asked to voluntarily leave.

The mobile home park sits along flood-prone Pigeon Creek, where more rain is forecast and floods are expected.

“Most of the people are out of there. Some decided to stay,” Greer said.

The Fire Department in Evansville assessed flooded areas in the city, and sandbags are needed, Greer said.

Twelve counties have declared states of emergency, including Evansville and Vanderburgh County, opening the door to seeking state and federal assistance.

Flooded streets near the Evansville Psychiatric Children’s Center forced the facility to move 15 patients to nearby Evansville State Hospital, said Marcus Barlow, spokesman for the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.

The North Gibson School Corp., about 25 miles north of Evansville, dismissed classes nearly two hours early on April 27 to give bus drivers time to take students home before water covered more roads.

About 100 miles to the east, workers at a hotel in Clarksville were cleaning up after flood waters spilled into the hotel’s ballroom complex, leaving the carpet sodden with several inches of water.

Holiday Inn Lakeview front office manager Michelle Seitz said the lake behind the hotel overflowed after heavy rains overwhelmed its drainage system and water poured into the hotel’s Royal Ballroom and connected banquet rooms.

Seitz says the hotel’s pool also was closed when water flowed into the pump room. The pool was open again the following morning.

She said the flood is the first ever at the hotel, which is about a mile and a half away from the flooded Ohio River.

Associated Press writer Rick Callahan in Clarksville contributed to this report.

Information from: Evansville Courier & Press