Flood of Indiana

[Molten]

I apologize for the length of this post. Whether or not someone reads this is of no consequence, I just felt it need to be told.

I know this is a bit late to post, but my last several days have been very busy and stressful. I'm a cashier in the only grocery story that half the city could get to. My line was about 15 people constantly for 6 hours. We were busy up until closing at 11pm and never saw an end to the line. People were sleeping in their cars out in the parking lot. I ended up working 24 hours over the weekend due to the lack of employees able to get there. I must say that this has given me hope for people. Usually they are short-tempered and a bit rude, but I didn't hear a single person complain. In fact, most of them were happy to bag their own groceries and even thanked me for doing my job (very rare for a cashier). I heard every rumor that went through the town. I heard several trematic experiences and I must say, that I have a lot to tell.

Story:
There was a little girl who came through with her mom. She was probably about ten and didn't say a word. She had the mile far stare and seemed like she wasn't aware of where she was. I asked her mom if she was ok, she told me that the girl was rescued from the top of her house in a boat just that morning. Apparently, she was at her dad's house when the house flooded. Someone rescued her and got her back with her mom.

Rumors:
Bridges collapsed, suspension bridges leaning, whole stores getting washed away.

[JaneYoung]

The news has shown devastating damage and flooding.
It has been horrible to watch.

What you have to say is of value, Jason.
No matter what you do in life after these past few days, you will remember the grocery store, cashiering, the lines, the patience and strength of the people, and the little girl's look. I'm glad she was rescued and with her mother.

What town/city are you in?

[Molten]

Columbus, Indiana

The city was basically cut in half by the flood and we happened to be the only store that was still open on our half.

BTW: I forgot to post this on my first post, but I'm sure that many would love to hear of other FIRSTers stories. Please post any of them you have.

[Andy Baker]

In the northern part of the state, things are not bad. In the south, there is much trouble. In some places, this is the worst flood for more than 100 years.

Thanks, Jason, for the post. You don't have time to keep the rest of us informed, and we appreciate it.

Andy

[Kyle Love]

I had to drive through all of the water to get to Evansville for my job. We drove through Columbus, IN to get here. It was severely flooded at the I-65 interchange. For those who are familiar with the area, the red suspension bridge in the middle of the interchange had water almost up to the bottom of the highway, almost submersing the Bob Evans and other restaurants below. The off ramp looked more like a boat launch. It was very sad to drive south of Indy and for almost the whole way, see water on both sides on I-65, where fields and homes use to be. With more rain in the forecast, we can only hope that it misses them.

For those in deep south Indiana (Evansville, IN, Owensboro, KY etc.) be aware that all of the water from the Columbus area will be flowing towards the rivers at the KY/IN line. I know a lot of people in the Evansville area are prepared for a ton of water (not literally).

[Laaba 80]

Did Indiana get the rain we had in WI? I didnt know IN got flooding. Here In Milwaukee we got around 10 - 12 inches of rain over the weekend. I dont know if you heard of the lake near the dells, but it rained so much that the lake actually disappeared! It broke through a dam, and now the lake is completely drained. There is also talk about a dam in Mukwonago(spelling?) that may possibly collapse. There is nowhere for the water to go around here, and it is supposed to rain more the rest of the week! We'll just have to see what happens.
Joey

[JaneYoung]

Originally Posted by Laaba 80

Did Indiana get the rain we had in WI?

Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa.
Parts of Michigan have been in the news; I think power...
Illinois.
Weather, power, flooding.

I started seeing footage of Wisconsin's flooding late yesterday afternoon.
--
The east coast is having troubles with heat, hopefully that is breaking.

[Carlee10]

It was definitley not good. Somebody's daughter I know was having an outdoor wedding, and then her mom's basement flooded, which her other two kids lived in. They lost all of there stuff, including electronics. There slleping outside in a loaned camper. My brother's camp departure was delayed because of the closing of I -65 south, and several streets in and around the southside were closed. My parents had to drive through really deep water; luckily we were in a van; other cars who went through were smoking. I also saw many car accidents, and have heard many other bad flood stories abotu hoses getting ruined. We don't live in a "flood area", so many around here don't have flood insurance, and will only get their belongings fixed if we get declared an disaster zone, but that could take awhile.
I liked your story, Molten. That's just what life and being a good/ happy person is about.

[Protronie]

Could someone tell me how bad Indianapolis is flooded if at all?
News hasn't been too helpful. Have friends there I have not been able to contact or heard from. Here in Carolina we've been melting from high ninety's low hundreds.

[IndySam]

Originally Posted by Protronie

Could someone tell me how bad Indianapolis is flooded if at all?
News hasn't been too helpful. Have friends there I have not been able to contact or heard from. Here in Carolina we've been melting from high ninety's low hundreds.

Indy is fine (except for the tornadoes the week before) no major flooding. We had a lot of rain but there was much more south of us. All of our rain added to the problems down south.

[cooker52]

The Ft. Wayne area of Indiana got off real well from everyone else, just a few power outages. Nothing big at all.

Listening to the weather, it's not going to end this week either. We're all supposed to get more rain.

The eastern states are supposed cool down, on the light side.

As bad as all of this weather is, there is an advantage to it. As it is tearing down our buildings, roads, and dikes, it gives us the chance to rebuild them and make them stronger and more powerful so something like this won't have the same devastating effects later.

[GBilletdeaux930]

Originally Posted by Laaba 80

There is also talk about a dam in Mukwonago(spelling?) that may possibly collapse.

Yea you spelled it right. Thats were i live and right now its almost like were just waiting for it to happen. Theres really nothing they can do. They said the dam is doing exactly what it should be doing theres just too much water. There afraid that what happened in the dells is going to happen here... We saw Govenor Doyle fly over today, supposed to talk or something i dunno.

Alot of waukesha is flooded right now, all by the fox river. Whole parks are underwater and yea... More rain is supposed to come tommorow too...

[Clark Gilbert]

The flooding here in Columbus was insane, by far the worst I've ever seen.

The Technical Center for Cummins (where all the engine testing/design/etc is done) has been closed all week due to the flooding.

I was fortunate enough to live in an apartment in the "high grounds".

If anyone is curious, here are some pretty good photo galleries from the area.

http://hneolive.therepublic.com/sites/flood/index.html

This is the bridge Kyle is talking about also. The water level this afternoon was about 1/2 way between those two photos.

[Travis Hoffman]

theindychannel.com had a home video of someone driving through Columbus and filming the flooding earlier this week. They showed the Cummins plant.

Many other pictures and videos of flooding have been posted to the site.

Some of what I read was quite tragic. My thoughts go out to those who've lost loved ones or had their property ruined by this event.

[Molten]

I didn't know there were other FIRSTers in town. Sorry, I know this is off topic,I just am mighty surprised.