Local streams swell with floodwaters

Near-record flooding on Big Walnut Creek and in other parts of the county left many roads in Putnam County impassable and had emergency responders on the run Friday. In northern Washington Township, Houck Iron Bridge (above) sat perched atop a pair of islands in the middle of the swollen creek, inaccessible from either direction. Upstream west of Greencastle, the water covered West Walnut Street Road (left) just east of the Irwin Memorial Bridge. Most motorists turned around, although a few drivers went against the advice of emergency officials and crossed the floodwaters. In the Reelsville area responders stayed busy from early morning until afternoon responding to flooded houses and stranded motorists. One of the hardest hit areas was along County Road 625 West (below), where several homes were damaged.

With more than four inches of rain falling in a 24-hour period, Friday was a day of rescuing those in need and simply finding where the damage was for Putnam County officials.

Local reports to the Banner Graphic ranged between 4.11 and 4.5 inches falling between Thursday and Friday morning, leaving local creeks, particularly Big Walnut, swollen well beyond their banks.

Local weather observer Diana Faust reported 4.11 inches having fallen near Fillmore as of the 7 a.m. reporting hour Friday.

The torrential rainfall brought the total precipitation to 6.89 since last weekend. The annual average for all of April is 3.81 inches.

All of this meant big trouble for areas of the county near waterways such as Big Walnut Creek, Deer Creek and Mill Creek.

The Reelsville area was the hardest hit, where Fire Chief John McPherson said the first call for a water rescue came in at 2:25 a.m. Friday.

"We've basically been running ever since," he told the Banner Graphic about 11 hours later.

Reelville Fire Department performed a number of water rescues in the area of county roads 525 West and 1100 South, with people attempting to drive through high water and getting stranded.

"If we could get people to stop driving through water, we'd be OK," McPherson said.

There were also evacuations of three people who live in cabins along Big Walnut north of U.S. 40.

Additionally, several homes were damaged by high water on County Road 625 West, north of U.S. 40.

Fortunately, the only injury reported was a minor one to a firefighter.

A command center and shelter has been set up at the Reelsville Fire Station.

McPherson gave credit to several other area agencies that either balanced assistance to Reelsville with their own runs. These included the Greencastle and Madison Township fire departments, which provided manpower, as well as the Cloverdale Township Volunteer Fire Department and the Owen County Swift Water Rescue Team, both of which provided boats.

County Emergency Management Director Tom Helmer also gave credit to the local fire departments.

"The fire departments get a lot of kudos," Helmer said. "Everybody has done a good job."

He said with the rescue phase ended and waters most likely receded, the damage assessment phase will commence on Monday. Putnam County may not reach the threshold for federal assistance, but could contribute to the state total.

The Putnam County Highway Department is on a similar schedule. With high waters still in place on Friday, the job of fixing damaged roads will not begin until Monday.

The waters are so high, they leave officials with few other options. For much of Friday, U.S. 231 and U.S. 40 were the only passable paths across Big Walnut Creek.

Floodwaters not only made Dunbar Road impassable, they reached north and east of the intersection of County Road 125 West and Doc Jones Road, leaving about a half mile of water between motorists and Dunbar Covered Bridge.

Even West Walnut Street, the only other access point between Madison Township and Greencastle, was between its crossing of Big Walnut and the Irwin Memorial Bridge. That did not, however, keep some foolish motorists from crossing the roaring waters.

Farther downstream in Washington Township, Houck Covered Bridge sat perched atop two islands in the middle of Big Walnut, inaccessible from both directions.

Besides Big Walnut, a number of other problem areas popped up in the county overnight Thursday and into Friday.

* U.S. 231 was closed where it crosses Deer Creek just north of U.S. 40 between 2 and 6:30 a.m.

* State Road 236 was closed until 10 a.m. Friday just east of U.S. 231 due to flooding on Little Raccoon Creek.

* At the east end of the county, U.S. 40 traffic was being diverted north onto State Road 75 due to flooding in the area of Hendricks County Road 0.

* High waters were also a problem on south of U.S. 40 on County Road 1000 East in Jefferson Township.

Waters crested at around 2 p.m. Friday, but not before reaching levels rarely seen.

Near Reelsville, Big Walnut reached a level of 17.25 feet, compared to the flood stage of 12 feet.

Likewise, Mill Creek reached a level of more than 15.5 feet near Manhattan, with a flood stage of 12 feet.

Waters were receding by late afternoon Friday, so all local officials could do was wait.

"We're going to have to wait until the water goes down before we can really get into the interiors of houses and assess the damage," McPherson said.

So the job continues Monday for emergency personnel. That is, Lord willing and the creek don't rise (again).