Persistent rain over the weekend will push the East Fork White River at Rockford to more than 3 feet above flood stage this morning with flooding continuing through midweek, according to the National Weather Service.
After cresting at 12.7 feet at 1:15 p.m. New Year’s Eve because of rains earlier in the week, the river fell below flood stage (12 feet) at river gauge just north of Seymour later that day.
Rain, however, fell all day long Saturday and into Sunday morning, leading to new flooding with the weather service predicting the river will rise to 15.4 feet early today before slowly falling to below flood stage sometime Wednesday morning.
The weather service is reminding motorists to not attempt to drive around barricades or drive vehicles through flooded areas.
At least one motorist with an 8-month-old infant driving in the Vallonia Bottoms failed to heed that advice Friday afternoon and wound up in floodwaters.
Firefighters with Driftwood Township and Brownstown volunteer fire departments responded to the scene to rescue the driver and child with the help of Brownstown’s airboat. That incident involving a Mercury Mountaineer was reported to the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department at 12:32 p.m. Friday in the 5600 block of North County Road 275W.
At 15.6 feet, the sheriff’s department generally reports the following road closings: County 25N through Honeytown, Slab Road between the river and Ewing, Rockford Road near the skating rink and State Road 235 from Medora to State Road 135.
The weather service wants to remind motorists that most flooding deaths occur in vehicles, and they should turn around instead of drowning when encountering flooded roads.
Information: weather.gov/safety/flood