Bartholomew County residents residing in flood-prone areas were breathing a sign of relief Wednesday as water levels didn’t rise as high as some had feared.
“I’m glad we put the sandbags up, but I don’t think we’re going to need them,” said Eric Johnson of Sunset Drive, part of the Lagoons area west of Washington Street.
While a second-round of heavy storms expected late Tuesday instead hit northern Indiana, that water will travel south into Bartholomew County through already swollen rivers and creeks, said Shannan Hinton, Bartholomew County Emergency Management director.
“We really can’t say if we’re out of danger,” Hinton said. “We still have rivers rising through Thursday afternoon and evening, and there are still plenty of areas that have the potential for flooding.”
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However, Hinton said she thought the city may have weathered the worst of the flooding, as the Flatrock River prepares to crest at 15.2 feet Wednesday into today. That’s 5 feet below the 2008 flood level of 19.94 feet, she said.
State Road 11, a main route to and from Seymour that closed because of high water at 7 a.m. Wednesday, should reopen tonight or early Friday, Hinton said.
Some impatient drivers ignored high-water signs along State Road 11 on Wednesday. Police officers were ticketing drivers who ignored the signs.
Jonathan Moore Pike on Columbus’ west side remained open — and will probably stay that way — despite fears that flood water would overtake the roadway, Hinton said.
Between 1:30 and 4 p.m. Wednesday, five roads were removed from the county’s high-water list.
One welcome surprise for emergency management officials was how quickly Haw Creek — which causes flooding worries for Columbus Regional Hospital and Cummins, Inc. — began to recede Wednesday, she said.
Other rivers flowing through Columbus performed close to what was forecast, she said.
“The tools we have now are much more sophisticated compared to 2008,” Hinton said. “We can look at these readings and tell what the water will do.”
The possibility of a 10- to 100-year flood event Tuesday night prompted Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. to cancel classes on Wednesday. It was one of several decisions, included the suggestion of voluntary evacuations in some areas, where authorities decided to err on the side of caution, Hinton said.
Experience has caught Lagoons residents Johnson and neighbor Denny Taylor of Flatrock Drive that there’s no such thing as being too cautious when it comes to high water.
As of late Wednesday morning, city authorities had closed off two streets in the Lagoons area just west of Washington Street — Newsom Drive to the south and Riverside Drive to the north.
Johnson said memories from the June 2008 flood continue to be a strong motivation to always be prepared for the worst. He credited Columbus architect Louis Joyner for helping residents of the Lagoons determine the lowest areas for precautionary sandbagging.
Police went door-to-door late Tuesday night in flood-prone areas, encouraging voluntary evacuations and providing warnings.
Some people complained about the disruption of being woken up around midnight when there was no evacuation, but Hinton said she would rather err on the side of caution.
“It’s much more dangerous to have to come in and get them after the area floods, especially in the dark,” she said.
A Red Cross emergency shelter was set up at Donner Center late Tuesday night, but it served only one family, the organization said.
The shelter was expected to close this morning.
One of emergency management’s biggest remaining concerns was the fully submerged Noblitt Park, where rising waters were threatening homes off Lawton Avenue, she said. Nearby Mill Race Park was also closed due to high water.
Winds were strong early Wednesday and several trees were reported down along State Road 58 in southwestern Bartholomew County, as well as along several roads near the Brown-Bartholomew County line, said Todd Noblitt, Bartholomew County Emergency Operations Center director.
A tornado watch had been declared for Tuesday night in Bartholomew County, and a few snow flakes fell Wednesday morning.
Police are continuing to deal with high-water signs that are floating away, or those that are being moved by motorists who are driving through the water.
One call for a water rescue came in shortly before 8 a.m. Wednesday from southeast of Azalia, Noblitt said. When first-responders arrived, however, all they found was an abandoned vehicle along County Road 850S, he said.
Later in the morning, the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department water rescue team picked up a motorist at 5890 S. County Road 175E with an airboat. The person had driven through high water and then stalled on the other side of the water.
In addition to complaints about evacuation notices, emergency management officials apologized on social media for repeated notifications Tuesday on the county’s Everbridge system about flood watches, tornado watches and flood warnings. Some residents said they received dozens of the notifications, which must be answered and acknowledged. Officials said they were reporting the problem to their provider to sort out why the multiple and repeated messages were being sent out.
Former Columbus Fire Chief Dave Allman said there should have been more drills by emergency management personnel and first responders, as well as better communications, prior to the arrival of this week’s high-water events.
Emergency Management personnel, representatives of the sheriff’s department and Columbus police met late Tuesday night into Wednesday to discuss plans.
The local media was notified Tuesday night so information about river levels, evacuations, the availability of the emergency shelter and the BCSC school closings could be disseminated to the public through websites and social media.
