Flooding returns to Elkhart County

by Ed Ernstes (ernstes@wsbt.com)

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In Elkhart County near Wakarusa, water is rising in yards and driveways. (WSBT photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: Feb 6, 2008 at 6:45 PM EST

Story Updated: Feb 6, 2008 at 6:45 PM EST

ELKHART — For the second time in just a few weeks, parts of the area are flooding. At least two counties — Pulaski and Marshall — have declared a state of emergency. For some homeowners, that means voluntary evacuations.

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In Elkhart County, the rising water is targeting homes, businesses and roads.

Flooding problems were evident throughout a number of areas of the county, whether at Old Farm Apartments on Elkhart's south side, in yards and driveways near Wakarusa, in Rogers Park in Goshen, or county roads near Foraker.

“And so it’s going to be a cycle — we're going to get some snow, it will accumulate a little bit, then it’s going to melt due to the rain, so the flooding is going to be persistent,” explained Jennifer Tobey of Elkhart County Emergency Management.

And that could be the case for the shopping center in Goshen off Chicago Avenue. It looks like it did last month when water levels went up.

Diana Garcia works at a thrift shop there.

“I said to myself, ‘It’s happening all over again,’ and gee wiz, look at it again,” she told WSBT News. “And this is not very good again, this not very good."

For now she says she is keeping her fingers crossed that the water does not rise up once again into her store. But for the moment she says she can't rule anything out.

“We're just going to have to live day by day,” Garcia said.

South of Goshen on County Road 21 rising waters from a drainage ditch caused a portion of the road to cave in near Mike Rippey’s home.

“It rained very hard and the ditch came way up,” Rippey explained. “It couldn't handle all the water, so it went over it and of course under the asphalt, undermined it and you see the results.”

The American Red Cross has set up shelters for people displaced by the floods. They are in Goshen, Elkhart, Winamac, and Plymouth. For more information click on the links in the Related Content box.

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