A Brown County family of four was rescued from rising flash flood water Sunday night.
Indiana Department of Natural Resources conservation officers and the Brown County (Nashville) Volunteer Fire Department responded to a home on Upper Schooner Road just after 6:30 p.m., according to a press release from the DNR.
Four people including one child, were rescued.
“We were the water rescue on Schooner,” Jennifer Cosby Crutchett wrote on the Brown County Democrat’s Facebook page. “We’re all out and safe thanks to all the amazing guys.”
Crutchett wrote that water came in all sides of the home and that everything was under water, “but we’re all safe,” she wrote.
Crutchett later commented that she had propane tanks, sheds, tires, camper shells, trees, chairs and grills on her property. “You name it, it’s here,” she wrote.
She said the flooding took out the property’s well and a barn. “Never have I seen water like this. It came in on us in seconds. Very scary,” she wrote.
A video shared on Facebook showed Ogle Lake at Brown County State Park overflowing into the lake’s parking area. This lake is just east of Upper Schooner Road.
Residents on Upper Schooner commented that they had not seen the creek in their area rise to that level before.
Due to floodwater covering sections of State Road 46 West, the Brown County Sheriff’s Department closed the road briefly to prevent any further water emergencies, according to the release.
The highway has since reopened.
Police encourage drivers to “turn around, don’t drown” when they cannot see the road surface due to water.
High winds and heavy rain were concerns Saturday and Sunday nights, as Brown County, especially the southern part, was hit with multiple storms. Elsewhere in Indiana, six tornadoes were confirmed, according to the Indianapolis Star and the National Weather Service: in Owen, Monroe, Greene and Rush counties, and two in Marion county.
Brown County Emergency Management Director Susan Armstrong said that dispatch received a 911 call from a man reporting a tornado on the ground in Gnaw Bone Saturday night.
The man recorded the tornado and the location ended up actually being near Stone Head, Armstrong said.
Armstrong notified the NWS and sent them the video. NWS was coming to Brown County today to assess damage, she said.
“I could see some debris coming up, but it was dark and pretty far away,” Armstrong said of the video.
Deputies went out to the area where the video was captured and reported seeing some trees down.
“But it was localized to a field. If they (NWS) confirm it was a tornado it wasn’t in an area where we had any damage,” she said.
On Saturday night, during the first round of severe weather, dispatchers received six calls reporting trees down in the county and three traffic hazards were reported in the areas of State Road 135 South and 46 West. On Sunday night, dispatch received eight calls reporting trees down.
On Facebook this morning, residents commented that water was still over the road in two places on State Road 135 South and that 135 South is still not passable in Story.
Others commented that State Road 46 West and East were both clear this morning.
But EMA is cautioning residents to be aware as more rain is expected today.
“It’s a soggy day out there today, and unfortunately we are looking at the possibility of another round of heavy rain this afternoon/this evening,” an EMA Facebook post reads.
“Roads that are passable now may not be passable later day once the rain starts again. Be aware of your surroundings while out today.”
This morning, Armstrong said that between two and four more inches of rain is expected today.
“Lots and lots of water and unfortunately it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop,” she said adding that rain is in the forecast all week.
The Upper Schooner Road rescue was the only rescue Armstrong was aware that happened in the county this weekend.
She is currently in Phoenix, Arizona for a conference with other EMA directors from surrounding counties.
Sheriff Scott Southerland has been running operations on the ground and Armstrong is in contact with him often, she said.
Cordry-Sweetwater Volunteer Fire Department brought an inflatable boat to Nashville for emergency personnel to use if needed.
“We’re usually pretty dependent on DNR for water rescues. This was across their entire territory. It was pretty crazy,” Armstrong said.
EMA does have bags for sand available at their office by request. Residents would have to fill them up with sand, Armstrong said.
Flash flooding makes it difficult to prepare ahead of time, she added.
“With the flash flooding and the way ground is saturated we don’t always know what roads will flood right now. Roads are flooding that we’re not used to,” she said.
Armstrong has been keeping the EMA Facebook page updated as often as possible.
“That’s so hard to keep ahead out of it because the water comes in, it floods out and then it drops so quickly with flash flooding,” she said.
Armstrong said that Ogle Lake going over its dam most likely caused a lot of the water that came through the southwestern part of the county that was hit by rain.
Currently most county roads are passable, but Armstrong encouraged drivers to be vigilant when out driving.
“There may still be water on them, but definitely don’t trust the road is actually going to be there. It may not look like there’s a lot of water on the road, but that doesn’t mean the road’s not washed out underneath it,” she said.
Armstrong added that a culvert washed away on Crooked Creek Road that would have swallowed a car.
“Just because the road was passable 20 minutes ago doesn’t mean it’s passable now. Definitely be aware, extra vigilant,” she said.
Barricades will be kept near State Road 135 South at the slabs so that they can be placed if waters rise again there, she said.
Armstrong said a shelter will also be available if needed. Campers at the KOA Campground stayed at her office on Saturday night during the storm since they had no other place to go.
