Employees of Deer Country Equipment in Seymour expected to go about their normal day-to-day routine Tuesday morning.

That is until they arrived at work and saw that the Von Fange Ditch had overflowed.

Instead of taking care of customers’ needs inside on the sales floor, they used wet vacuums, squeegees and fans to dry tile and carpet floors and remove water-damaged merchandise.

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And instead of working on farm machinery outside, they were waiting for the water to recede to assess any damage.

Manager Dave Waymire said water has reached inside the building before but not to the extent it was Tuesday.

“People that have been here the longest have never seen anything get this high. So that’s 20 years give or take,” Waymire said.

Matt Klosterman was among the first employees to arrive at work Tuesday morning, and he said 4 to 6 inches of water was inside the building.

“There were guys that got here at 5:30, 6, and there was quite a bit of water in the store,” Waymire said.

When he left work Monday evening after a storm swept through the city in the afternoon, Waymire said the Von Fange Ditch was full.

That ditch runs along Community Drive on the west side of the store, which is at the corner of Community and Second Street.

“I’ve heard for quite a while now that the city is trying to take care of the ditch and drainage issues,” Waymire said. “But this weather this summer has gotten the best of it.”

He said he hopes Tuesday’s flooding, which followed two overnight storms with heavy rain, lightning and thunder, will prompt city officials to take another look at the issues.

“We had this last year,” Waymire said. “We had some rain like this, and water did come up in the building, so this isn’t the first time it has happened. But it’s the second or third time in seven years that we know of.”

Around 9 a.m. Tuesday, most of Deer Country Equipment’s employees were in the sales floor area drying things out and removing merchandise. Cardboard boxes that were sitting on the floor were wet, and carpets in several rooms were soaked.

“We’ve got some guys that are typically in the shop, they are up here working,” Waymire said of the cleanup crew in the main building.

Most of the machinery and parts outside were sitting in water.

“It seems like everything is OK outside,” Waymire said. “There are going to be some items that are under water that were sitting on the ground, parts and pieces.”

With the large tractors and equipment, Waymire said, the water would have to get very high to affect them.

“The water is receding, but it’s going slow,” he said.

A city police officer initially reported the possible flooding at Deer Country and Robertson Law Office just to the east early Tuesday. An employee with the law firm said doors there were replaced after flooding a year ago, and just a little water came under one door.

The Von Fange Ditch flows under U.S. 50 or West Tipton Street a block south of Deer Country Equipment.

That left water in the parking lots at Luecke Audio, Video and Appliances and Culligan Soft Water Service in the 1200 block of West Tipton Street, but neither business had water inside.

Employees at Culligan said that years ago, after several flooding events, the building was raised to prevent water from reaching inside the business.

The Von Fange Ditch empties into the East Fork White River west of the city.

The river at Rockford, north of the city, was at 17.29 feet Tuesday morning and was expected to crest at 18.5 feet at 8 p.m. Tuesday before slowly receding.

It’s not expected to fall below the 12-foot flood stage before 2 a.m. Sunday.

At 18.5 feet, the National Weather Service said the river is nearing a major flood. The last time the river was that high was Jan. 24, 2013, when it reached 19.11 feet.

Numerous county roads and several state roads also are flooded.

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Hoosier homeowners, renters, businesses and private non-profit organizations that sustained uninsured damage caused by recent severe storms and flooding may report damage online at https://myoracle.in.gov/hs/damage/ia-public.do?method=active&incidentId=IA20150708112230.

A link to the form also is available on the Indiana Department of Homeland Security website at www.in.gov/dhs. In the middle of the page under “Featured Topics,” click on “Report Damage from Severe Weather, Flooding – June 7 and continuing.”

Uninsured damage from other storms and flooding starting on or after June 7 also may be reported.

Damage reports will be used to help local emergency management agencies and the Indiana Department of Homeland Security with preliminary damage assessments and to determine if federal assistance can be pursued.

This is not an application for a grant with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Individuals will be asked to provide their name, address, phone number and type of damage the property sustained. Losses can include structural damage to homes and loss of personal property.

For information, contact your county emergency management agency. In Jackson County, that number is 812-358-6100.

Contact information also is available at http://www.in.gov/dhs/2797.htm.

Individuals without Internet access may contact a friend, family member or neighbor for assistance. Web access is also available at many libraries, religious institutions, community centers or other public facilities. If none of those options is available, individuals also may contact their county emergency management agency to report damage.

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