December 1, 2006

Weather whips county

       Flood water filled streets and parks, wind exceeded 50 mph and knocked over semitrailers, and trees blocked roads, creating a mess in Johnson County and central Indiana on Friday.  According to a weather monitoring station at Custer Baker Middle School in Franklin, 1.45 inches of rain fell during the day Friday.  The highest wind speed recorded by the Indianapolis National Weather Service at Indianapolis International Airport was 56 mph at 10:40 a.m.

         Homeowners and police reported branches down, fallen trees and utility poles ready to snap.  A Center Grove resident watched as a tree flailed violently near his home in the high wind. The man called the White River Township Fire Department for help.  Until a tree service could arrive to cut the tree down safely, firefighters rigged the tree to a fire department utility truck to stabilize it.  The tree service arrived and cut the tree down little by little, starting at the top, so it wouldn't break and fall into the man's home.

         Diana Norris heard screaming from the lower level of her Center Grove home when she awoke about 6 a.m. Friday.  Water was pouring into the lower level of the home on Berry Road where Norris' pregnant sister and brother-in-law were staying.  The retention pond behind the home had overflowed. The water was running down the walls and was several inches deep on the floor, she said.  The family rushed to move furniture upstairs.  Christmas presents and decorations, the couple's king-sized mattress and clothes, furniture and other items for the new baby were ruined, Norris said.  The pond, which collects storm water from nearby Eagle Trace and Foxberry Trace subdivisions, overran its levy and flowed directly to her house, she said.  "This isn't rainwater. It's nasty, nasty lake water, and it smells like fish," Norris said.  White River Township firefighters placed sandbags to stop more water from flowing into the house.  "The water isn't coming from the lake anymore, but the ground is just saturated, and the water is still coming in," she said.  The family called a septic company to pump water out of the home's system so sewage didn't overspill and run down the street, Norris said.  Another storm damage service company was called to pump water and treat the rooms before they begin to mildew, she said.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)

 

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