Dunkirk, Redkey hit hard by flooding

It rained.
And it rained.
And it kept on raining.
A downpour that drenched Jay County on Thursday night and Friday morning wreaked havoc in Dunkirk and Redkey, with some amateur weather watchers measuring more than 10 inches of rain.
“It definitely was our hundred year flood,” said Dunkirk Mayor Dan Watson. “Nobody has ever seen that much water in that many places. It was unbelievable.”
Floodwaters filled streets and reached into homes in both Dunkirk and Redkey, but officials were unable to put their finger on an estimate this week.
Most — if not all — of the losses are not covered by insurance.
And Jay County Emergency Management director Ralph Frazee said it’s unlikely any assistance will be coming from the state or federal government.
“I had 18 cars totaled,” said Rock Fuqua of Fuqua Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep. “But fortunately they were all used.”
Fuqua’s used car lot on East Commerce Street had floodwaters nearly 3 feet deep. The dealership’s showroom and offices had about a foot of water, while the shop had from 18 to 24 inches. Fuqua’s new car lot at the corner of Commerce and Main was not affected by the flooding.
For Pak-A-Sak in Dunkirk, it wasn’t the floodwaters that created a problem but swiftly-rising groundwater levels.
Jay Petroleum president Ron Freeman said fuel tanks at the service station/convenience store are sealed at the surface, and there are systems in place to prevent rising groundwater from getting into the tanks. Unfortunately, one of those systems failed.
Freeman said alarms alerted the staff on duty sometime between 2 and 3 a.m. that groundwater was getting into the tanks. They were able to immediately shut down the pumps, so no gasoline contaminated by water was sold.
“Unfortunately, we lost all the fuel in both tanks,” he said. “And it’s not real likely we’ll have any coverage for it.”
Repairs have been complicated by the fact that the groundwater remains high, and as of Monday afternoon that Pak-a-Sak was not yet selling gasoline.
“We’re still suffering,” said Freeman.
Redkey’s southeast side, which has a history of flooding problems, was hard hit as well. Flooding was reported on East Main, George, High and Harrison streets. Town officials said one house is expected to be razed as a result of the latest flooding.
Damage was also reported at Redkey’s wastewater treatment plant and the Dunkirk water plant, where a lightning strike was suspected.
Dunkirk’s Walnut Street neighborhood was among the hardest hit, along with Moore Avenue and Layne Drive. One Walnut Street resident said every house in the neighborhood had seen floodwaters inside. Layne Drive had floodwaters 4 feet deep at one point Friday morning.
Reports of flooding and high water started coming in Thursday evening, and some were close to home. At 10 p.m., the Dunkirk Police Department noted that floodwaters from Main Street had already made their way into the lobby.
Flooding was reported at Grand Street and Arlington Avenue about 10:15 p.m. Thursday, and in the early morning hours of Friday more reports came in. There were numerous complaints of vehicles driving through the floodwaters, sending them splashing into homes.
About 8:15 a.m. Friday, a rural Bryant woman attempted to drive under the railroad viaduct on Angle Street and immediately became stuck in high water. Angela K. Shawver, 32, 5922 W. Ind. 18, was able to get out of the vehicle safely. But her 2004 Chevrolet Trailblazer sustained between $10,000 and $25,000 in damage.
“We had 10 inches of rain,” said Mayor Watson, noting that his 6.5-inch rain gauge was overflowing at 7 a.m. and collected three more inches that morning. “We’ve never had anything like this.”
Fuqua did his best to be philosophical about the situation.
“My grandma always had a saying, those things that don’t kill you will make you stronger,” he said. “You have to pick yourself back up and go.”