The Midwest is facing its fourth consecutive day of flooding after a catastrophic deluge in Indiana. Relentless storms have unleashed heavy rainfall, causing widespread flooding and damage. Parts of Indiana saw a 1-in-1000 year flood, with water rushing into homes, forcing evacuations, and leaving roads impassable.

Local Impact

Cambridge City, about an hour east of Indianapolis, reported catastrophic flooding, with water levels well past many houses’ windows and cars almost entirely submerged. Officials have urged residents in certain parts of Cambridge City to evacuate, and first responders are using boats to conduct rescues.

Floodwater was waist-deep in parts of nearby New Castle, with city buses being used to transport people evacuating the floods to a temporary shelter. New Castle received more than 11 inches of rain in 32 hours, a rainfall rate that equates to a 1-in-1000-year flood.

Homes were also flooded farther north in Muncie, where officials were working to evacuate an area with about 200 homes. About a dozen people had to be rescued by boat, and responders were returning to pick up more.

Regional Flooding

The area that saw heavy rain on Wednesday and is at risk of flooding rainfall on Thursday is largely the same as previous days and extends from the central Plains to the Midwest and Ohio Valley. A complex of storms is underway in Nebraska and is expected to move into Iowa around daybreak before tracking toward parts of the Upper Midwest throughout the morning.

Additional storms could develop Thursday evening and repeatedly move over the same areas as a surge of moisture feeds into a stalled front. A Level 2 of 4 risk of flooding rain stretches from Iowa and northern Illinois through Indiana and Ohio into the central Appalachians.

Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.