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 ۱۱ 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.
“This is obviously unexpected,” Jennings county deputy chief Cody Low told the local ABC affiliate. “There’s nothing we can say that is going to make it any better. We’re going to push through this as a community.”
The other victims included a ۱۹-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 ۵۸-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.
“I must admit it is a good morning,” Christine Altman, president of the Hamilton county board of commissioners, said during a Sunday briefing. “It’s not raining, and the water is receding.”
She said the county, located just north of Indianapolis, escaped without any loss of life, though officials were assessing whether a significant bridge damaged in the flooding could be repaired or if it needed to be completely replaced.
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 ۱۳۰,۰۰۰ utility customers statewide remained without power by midday Sunday, down from a peak of about ۳۰۰,۰۰۰, 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.
The White River crested at more than ۲۴ feet (۷.۳۲ meters) in the communities of Anderson and Noblesville, surpassing records set in ۱۹۱۳.
Indianapolis mayor Joe Hogsett said the flooding was the worst the capital city has seen in more than ۳۰ years.
Governor Mike Braun’s office said more than ۳۵۰ evacuations and scores of rescue and welfare checks have occurred elsewhere in the state, including at a senior mobile home community north of Indianapolis.
Donald Trump on Saturday approved Braun’s request to the president for federal disaster assistance to help with flooding response and recovery efforts.
The drenching rains and destructive flooding were among the effects of severe storms that have wreaked havoc across the US midwest and beyond in recent days.
Tornadoes, heavy rains and flash flooding brought serious damage to communities from Illinois to western Pennsylvania.
