Latest day of severe Midwest storms unleashes ‘catastrophic’ flooding in Indiana

By Meteorologists Dakota Smith, Briana Waxman, Chris Dolce, and Kate S. Petersen

(CNN) — The seemingly endless rounds of storms in the Midwest rebooted again Wednesday, this time devastating Indiana with widespread flash flooding. Eastern parts of the state have gotten more than three months’ worth of rain in about a day and a half, and the governor says a statewide emergency declaration is likely.

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Storms unleashed similar flooding in Ohio a day earlier, while also generating a deadly derecho – a rare, unusually long-lasting windstorm – that left a trail of destruction across the Midwest. Storms started hitting the region and parts of the East Sunday and aren’t supposed to let up until maybe Friday.

Here’s the latest:

• Flash flood emergencies: Parts of seven counties in eastern Indiana were under the highest level of flood warning Wednesday. Evacuations were being carried out in Muncie, where the city’s fire department was going door-to-door to help people evacuate from homes in the affected areas, according to a Facebook post from the city.
• Widespread impacts: Towns across Indiana are reporting flooded roads and buildings. Nearly 300,000 homes and businesses are without power in Indiana as of Wednesday afternoon. according to PowerOutage.us. Officials are urging residents to stay safe as heavy rounds of rain continue.
• More storms to come: Much of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio are facing a risk of flooding rainfall again on Thursday, with some rain even lingering into Friday.

‘Catastrophic’ flooding grips Indiana

Cambridge City, about an hour east of Indianapolis, reported “catastrophic” flooding late Wednesday morning, warning residents in a social media post to be prepared to potentially lose utilities for “a number of days” due to the storms. The town is currently under a boil-water advisory.

Video obtained by CNN shows floodwater covering large sections of the town, 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, Wayne County Emergency management Agency spokesperson Todd Harmeson told CNN. First responders are also using boats to conduct rescues, as most of the roads in town are impassable, he said.

Floodwater was waist deep in parts of nearby New Castle, Kendra Blankenship, assistant to the city’s mayor, told CNN, noting city buses were 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. This only has a 0.1% chance of happening in given year, under normal circumstances. But extreme rainfall is becoming more common as the atmosphere warms.

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

Roadways are flooded throughout Muncie, Greene said, and what was supposed to be the first day of school for the city school system has been postponed due to flooding.

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun said multiple roads were washed out and “a lot of water rescues” were conducted in flood-ravaged areas Wednesday.

Speaking at an afternoon news conference, Braun said he expects a statewide emergency declaration will be needed since the storm first hammered northeastern portions of the state with brutal winds before “it moved all the way down across the state to the southeast.”

Deadly storms hit Midwest on Tuesday

Wednesday’s storms come a day after a deadly line of severe weather swept through Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.

A 4-year-old boy died in southeastern Indiana on Tuesday after a tree fell on a house in Geneva Township, according to Cody Low, chief deputy for the Jennings County sheriff’s department. The child was “either entrapped or injured” when the 911 call came in around 3:30 p.m., but when responders arrived they found the child dead in the home, Low told CNN.

One person was found dead Tuesday in Portage, Indiana, from an apparent explosion and house fire after the derecho moved through the area. The cause remains under investigation, but police suspect trees knocked down by the storm may have damaged natural gas lines.

A utility that serves northern Indiana experienced its largest outage event in company history on Tuesday, according to a social media post.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency in both Perry and Muskingum counties Tuesday afternoon and activated a National Guard high-water rescue unit for those areas.

One person died in the area after suffering an emergency and first responders were unable to reach them, DeWine said at a news conference Tuesday.

In Lorain County, Ohio, sixteen inmates were taken to the hospital after lightning struck a correctional institution Tuesday, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction said. Seven inmates remain hospitalized, the department said.

More rain targets the same storm-weary areas

Flooding rainfall forecast

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 Midwest to the central and southern Appalachians.

A lot of rain could fall in a short amount of time and cause dangerous flash flooding in localized parts of the risk areas on both days. We’ve already seen that come to pass in eastern Indiana and northern Kentucky, which has been upgraded to a Level 3 of 4 risk of flooding rainfall.

The flood risk has largely shifted to southern portions of the Ohio Valley for the remainder of Wednesday.

Storms could produce rainfall rates of up to 3 inches per hour, with localized totals over 5 inches where multiple rounds repeatedly track over the same locations. Even lower rainfall totals could quickly cause flooding where the ground is saturated from deluges earlier this week.

Such extreme rainfall is becoming more common in a world warming due to fossil fuel pollution. A warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture that storms can tap into and wring out in more intense spurts.

Showers and storms could linger into Friday in parts of the Ohio Valley, Appalachians and Midwest, but the greatest threat of additional flooding will shift north into the Upper Mississippi Valley.

Severe storm forecast

A severe storm threat remains for parts of the Ohio Valley Wednesday evening.

A line of storms moving through the area could produce wind damage but impacts are not expected to be as fierce as Tuesday’s derecho. Still, high winds could topple trees and cause new power outages in spots.

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CNN’s Avni Trivedi contributed to this report.