ZIONSVILLE, Ind. — Strong overnight storms that dumped up to 5 inches of rain flooded rivers, streams and streets across Indiana on Friday, forcing nearly 100 people from their homes and prompting officials in two counties to declare local emergencies.
The storms dumped up to three inches of precipitation in a large swath of central and northeast Indiana, with isolated areas reporting more, said Earl Breon, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis. Northwest of Indianapolis, the Boone County town of New Ross reported the highest total rainfall, 5.39 inches. The second-highest total was in Andrews, southwest of Fort Wayne, where 4.6 inches fell.
About 60 residents of the Stoney Creek Mobile Home Park near Zanesville, a few miles south of Fort Wayne, were evacuated when Eight Mile Creek overflowed its banks, Southwest Fire District Chief Don Patnoude said. About 10 to 15 residents stayed in their mobile homes, most of which were on higher ground.
Patnoude said rescue boats were used to remove residents from their homes, which were surrounded by up to 2 feet of water.
"With little kids and the elderly, it's hard for them to get out even the when the water's not that high. There's also a lot of people there who are handicapped and use scooters," he said.
In Zionsville, a picturesque Indianapolis suburb with historic buildings set amid rolling wooded hills, Police Capt. Doug Gauthier said flooding along Eagle Creek had forced the evacuation of between 25 and 30 residents from about 15 houses in a new subdivision and in a low-lying section downtown. He said motorists had been rescued from about five cars.
"This is the worst we've seen probably in 50 years," Gauthier said at an emergency operations center set up in the town hall. Boone County declared a local state of emergency and urged residents to stay off water-blocked roads, as did Tipton County, a nearby county that also received heavy rains.
Displaced residents in the deluged towns were taken to local churches where the Red Cross had set up shelters.
Red Cross volunteer Robert Wesseler said about 20 people had taken refuge at Zionsville Christian Church, but at mid-morning, those residents were checking on their homes.
Tim and Bonnie Sloan left the shelter Friday morning to survey the flooding at their home, the only wood-frame one in the downtown trailer park where they live.
Tim Sloan, 48, said the lower part of the mobile home park was under about 4 feet of water and that police officers knocked on their door early Friday.
"I wondered, 'Who's banging on my door at three o'clock in the morning,'" he said.
Bonnie Sloan said the waters were rising so quickly that she could see them advancing toward their home.
Though most of the rain had pushed east of Indiana by Friday morning, many parts of the state were under a flood watch, and numerous school districts were closed or had delayed the start of classes.
