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Flood recovery now moves into assessment, assistance phases
REELSVILLE -- A flood is unique among natural disasters in that it doesn't end just as quickly as it started.
Rising waters, fast or slow, keep coming. Sometimes when the damage looks at its worst, more is to come. Even when the rain stops, water may continue to rise or at least take its time in receding.
When the waters have receded, what are residents left with? Damaged or destroyed homes, a waterlogged, muddy mess and lots of recovery work to do.
This is the dire situation facing dozens of Putnam County homeowners following the floods of last week. The waters are down, at least in advance of Tuesday's rain, but the work is only beginning.
The number of local homes damaged by the floodwaters is anywhere between 17 and 40, depending on who you talk to, but for emergency agencies and concerned citizens, the numbers are less important than seeing neighbors in need and helping them.
One such effort is being organized by a group that includes the Reelsville/Washington Township Volunteer Fire Department, three area churches and a local insurance agent.
The fire department will be accepting donations of items for the flood victims on Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Reelsville Elementary School gymnasium.
The department will be collecting the items from 5-8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and from 8 a.m.-noon on Saturday.
Fire Chief Brent Urton emphasized that recovery remains in the cleanup phase, so residents have some very basic needs to aid in the cleaning process.
"We're not looking for furniture. We're not looking for clothes," Urton said. "It's just the necessities."
Those necessities include mops, squeegees, wet/dry vacs, wheelbarrows, buckets, sponges, paper towels, bleach, trash cans, gloves, dust masks, scrub brushes, flat-nosed shovels, tile/floor scrapers, box knives, dog food, de-humidifiers and fans.
The need for flat-nosed shovels in particular illustrates a shocking reality about recovery from these high waters. Before residents can even think about cleaning their homes in any conventional sense, some have to remove as much as four inches of mud from the floors.
Distribution is also planned from 8 a.m.-noon on Saturday.
Also assisting with the cleanup are Ray's Trash Service, Wallace Brothers Disposal and Republic Services, all of whom have provided dumpsters to the Reelsville area for the disposal of damaged items.
Anyone who cannot make it to Reelsville but would like to make a material donation may ado so at Heather Taylor State Farm Insurance, 1285 S. Jackson St., Suite C, Greencastle. They may be brought to the agency from 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. now through Friday.
Monetary donations to the relief effort may also be made at any First National Bank branch. Checks may be made out to the Reelsville/Washington Township VFD, with "flood relief fund" in the memo line of the check.
Efforts to get state and federal assistance for Putnam County have also been ongoing since the weekend. Putnam County Emergency Management has been out assessing the damaged homes in the first two days of the week.
The first trip was a preliminary damage assessment, conducted by Tom Helmer and Larry Jones on one team and Dave Costin and John McPherson on another.
On Tuesday, Costin was back out with Chris Funkhouser of the Indiana State Fire Marshal's Division of Fire and Building Safety.
This second trip verified 22 "Class 1 structures" with some water damage. Helmer reported that two of the structures were completely destroyed.
All but one of the homes in the report was in the Reelsville area.
"This does not mean that this is by any means a complete list for Putnam County, as some reports are still coming in," Costin said, "but that we have isolated what we can at this time sufficient for our initial report to Indiana Department of Homeland Security."
The hope is that the damage in Putnam County can combine with other counties to qualify for a state disaster. The initial report is required to be completed within 72 hours of the disaster or there can be no declaration.
Anyone who has not registered their home as affected by the flood is strongly encouraged to do so by visiting www.in.gov/dhs. These reports may be submitted beyond the original 72-hour window.
Anyone who wishes to register their home but does not have Internet access may also go to the Reelsville Fire Department or to Heather Taylor State Farm to use a computer terminal.
For more information, contact the Reelsville Fire Department at 673-4768 or Heather Taylor State Farm at 276-4596.
"This is a very important first step to get the aid in the event we do get a disaster declared," Costin said. "This should be done as quickly as possible."
Adding to the local damage assessment are the stretches of damaged roads in the county. The Putnam County Highway Department has identified 16 stretches of county road damaged or destroyed by the flooding.
Of these, four roads were still listed with unknown damage because they remained flooded as of Monday's reporting date.
Of the known damage, the most heavily affected was County Road 600 West in Russell Township near County Bridge 10, where about 100 yards of the road was completely destroyed.
Several other roads experienced washouts of gravel and pavement, as well as shoulder damage in other areas.
Officials hope that the rains of this week are not further exacerbating the problems.
Helmer asked that motorists in areas that remain flooded or those that could flood again exercise extreme caution.
"Do not go across the water on these roads because you don't know if the road is there," Helmer said.