A dayslong wave of severe storms and historic flooding has killed seven people in Indiana and damaged hundreds of structures, leaving behind widespread destruction, emergency water rescues, major power outages and growing concerns over unsafe roads and bridges.
The storms began battering the state on Aug. 11. Since then, at least seven deaths have been linked to storm-related incidents, according to confirmation from the Indiana State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC).
Details about several victims remain limited, but the SEOC has reported fatalities in multiple counties. Those who died include a 19-year-old man and a 58-year-old woman in Delaware County, a 4-year-old boy in Jennings County, two women in Lake and Porter counties, a man in LaPorte County, and a 31-year-old man in New Castle.
Carmel City Council member Adam Aasen shared more information about the Henry County death, saying, “Early Sunday morning… [he] on a bicycle rode past flood barricades and fell into a hole where the road had collapsed. He died.”
In response to the catastrophic storm damage, Indiana Gov. Mike Braun declared a state of emergency, a move intended to help secure additional resources for affected communities.
In Hamilton County, officials said hundreds of homes, businesses and other structures have been affected by flooding. Local authorities said the focus has now shifted to damage assessment, recovery efforts and eventual rebuilding.
After a briefing with Mayor Finkam and her team, Aasen said the bridge just south of 106th Street on Hazel Dell appears to be a total loss.
Officials said the bridge collapsed after floodwaters rose in the area. Because bridges are under county jurisdiction, Hamilton County will oversee the replacement, a project expected to be expensive and likely to take months to finish.
Flash Flood Emergencies were issued last Wednesday across east-central Indiana as torrential rainfall caused life-threatening flash flooding throughout the region.
That flooding followed a destructive derecho on Tuesday, which the FOX Forecast Center confirmed brought 90 to 100 mph winds and stretched at least 250 miles long and 60 miles wide across northern Indiana.
Destructive winds within the system reached 90 to 100 mph across northern Indiana, while the National Weather Service reported that more than 11 inches of rain fell in parts of central Indiana over the course of two days.
This caused the White River to surge, cresting near 25 feet in Anderson and Noblesville. Local reports indicate this surpassed the previous record of 23.6 feet set in March 1913.
The rising waters forced hundreds of evacuations across Delaware County, particularly along the river in Muncie.
The extreme water levels also caused significant infrastructure damage. On Saturday, the Indianapolis Department of Public Works warned of an imminent structural failure at multiple buildings due to erosion from a severe washout on an Indianapolis roadway.
Recovery efforts remain underway as communities and officials continue to assess and clean up the damage.
