July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Water receding; more on way? (1/13/05)
Dry period helps ease flooding problems
Eyes were on the skies this morning, a day after a battle with rising water was waged.
With water receding from many city streets and county roads, officials kept sandbags ready for the rain that was forecast for today.
While much of the county is breathing a sigh of relief, the battle continued this morning for residents of New Corydon. (See a related story elsewhere on this page.)
“Most of the water has receded. There are still some areas that may not be clear,” Ken Wellman, superintendent of the Jay County Highway Department, said this morning. “Drivers should take precautions while driving ... Depending on the amount of rain. We are in decent shape. But I don’t think it will take long to return to where the flood waters were. The ground is saturated.”
Several roads were closed in Jay County due to washouts and high water, including county road 500 North between county roads 650 and 750 West, county road 250 West north of Ind. 18 and State Line Road between county roads 800 and 900 North. Flooding was also a problem around the Wabash River on county roads 700 and 750 West and in the New Corydon area.
Portland street superintendent Jeff Harker said Meridian Street was opened early this morning, but flooding was still a problem on West Race Street.
“We left the barricades (near the downtown) because we’re supposed to get some more rain,” Harker said.
Flooding on Meridian Street, from the intersections of Walnut to Race streets, became a problem when the level of the Salamonie River rose higher than the elevation of the those downtown areas Wednesday morning. Flood waters receded in those areas after the river water level dropped overnight.
“We have a little room in the river to stand a little rain, but we don’t need a whole lot,” Harker said. Street department employees went back to cleaning up limbs and debris this morning, but were ready to get back onto flood control if the river started to rise.
“If we get a thunderstorm with a large downpour with another two inches, we could be in trouble. It all depends on how long it rains,” Harker said.
He commended the efforts of volunteers who helped fill sandbags at the street department garage, located on Garfield Avenue behind the Portland Water Department Plant, on Wednesday.
“We had a lot of volunteers. They did a great job sandbagging,” Harker said. “We had adults, business owners, teachers and students. They did a fantastic job.”
The director of local emergency operations said this morning he hoped the brief respite from the rain was enough to avoid a repeat.
“I’ll qualify it by saying yes, if we don’t get another two inches” of rain today, Ralph Frazee, director of Jay County Emergency Management, said by phone.
Frazee said that virtually all of his efforts are currently focused on flood prevention and recovery, although the local American Red Cross chapter is still providing food and shelter to some whose homes are still without power.
Frazee said the Salamonie River crested sometime Wednesday evening, nearly escaping its banks in several places through Portland. The river had dropped five or six feet by mid-morning today.
No electricity was still an issue for some Jay County residents this morning.
But Jay County REMC employees were smiling this morning after it was announced at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday that power had been restored to all of their customers.
“There are some customers who need repairs to damage to their service,” REMC director of marketing Cindy Denney said this morning. She added she knows of four customers who need to make those repairs.
“The big stuff is done ... Everything is on. Everybody has smiles on their faces today.”
Any REMC customer who doesn’t have power should call (260) 726-7121 or (800) 835-7362.
Indiana Michigan Power Company community affairs manger Jim Riggle said this morning that some residents in the southern part of Portland and the county are still without power.
“We have had to repair the main distribution lines in those areas,” Riggle said.
Rain has slowed some efforts because trucks cannot get to some areas they need to because of mud and flooded areas.
“The rain is not helping things,” Riggle said.
As of 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, approximately 750 residents were still without power in the Portland, Jay County and Winchester areas. A total of 1,575 residents were without electricity Wednesday night in the six-county area affected by the Jan. 5 ice storm.
I&M officials still project that they will have approximately 100 percent power restored by tonight.
“We do have some customers with damage at their property. We will have employees working all week ... to help those customers. We don’t want anyone in the cold,” Riggle said.
With more than 1,800 electric company employees working countless hours to restore power to the area, Riggle said there have been no major injuries. Only one minor injury was reported after a lineman bruised his hip last week after falling on the ice.
Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier said about 92 to 95 percent of Portland residents had power this morning. But areas on Floral Avenue, Union and Wayne streets were without power this morning.
“There are still some isolated areas in the city (without power),” Hosier said.
He encourages city residents still without power to contact the Portland Police Department at (260) 726-7161.
“We are staying in contact with (I&M),” Hosier said. “It is essential that all residents of the city have power before the cold hits.”
The Portland Fire Department, located on Franklin Street behind Wal-Mart, continues as a shelter for Jay County. Another shelter open to adults only is located at MIller’s Merry Manor on county road 300 South in Dunkirk.
Hoosier Heartland Chapter of the American Red Cross representative Brian Fern said this morning that shelter locations are subject to change, and residents needing help should call (260) 726-9530 or (800) 480-4403.
“We are so grateful to the places that have stepped up and the area businesses that have provided supplies at the shelters,” Fern said.
The Red Cross is in need of volunteers to perform a variety of duties including driving, answering phones, general office duties and moving and loading supplies all over their four county area including Jay, Randolph, Delaware and Blackford counties.
Anyone interested in volunteering can call (765) 284-3361 with their availability to volunteer.
While workers from power companies have had the most difficult and vital job over the past week, employees of Sprint, which provides local phone service to most of Jay County, have been busy as well.
Jack Moore, director of community relations for Sprint in northern Indiana, said earlier this week that it’s “going to be another week, 10 days before things are back to normal. All in all, we’re in pretty good shape.”
Most of Sprint’s main equipment kept functioning, with most of the problems caused by lines pulled down from poles or from residences or businesses.
“We’ve had our challenges, too. I couldn’t be more pleased with the work force ... I’d like to thank the folks for their patience and, even more importantly, express how proud I am of our work force. The measure of a company is (its) work force in a crisis. And they’ve really come through,” Moore said.
Moore said he recommends that all homes have at least one corded phone available for use during power outages.
******
CR staffer Mike Snyder contributed to this story.[[In-content Ad]]
With water receding from many city streets and county roads, officials kept sandbags ready for the rain that was forecast for today.
While much of the county is breathing a sigh of relief, the battle continued this morning for residents of New Corydon. (See a related story elsewhere on this page.)
“Most of the water has receded. There are still some areas that may not be clear,” Ken Wellman, superintendent of the Jay County Highway Department, said this morning. “Drivers should take precautions while driving ... Depending on the amount of rain. We are in decent shape. But I don’t think it will take long to return to where the flood waters were. The ground is saturated.”
Several roads were closed in Jay County due to washouts and high water, including county road 500 North between county roads 650 and 750 West, county road 250 West north of Ind. 18 and State Line Road between county roads 800 and 900 North. Flooding was also a problem around the Wabash River on county roads 700 and 750 West and in the New Corydon area.
Portland street superintendent Jeff Harker said Meridian Street was opened early this morning, but flooding was still a problem on West Race Street.
“We left the barricades (near the downtown) because we’re supposed to get some more rain,” Harker said.
Flooding on Meridian Street, from the intersections of Walnut to Race streets, became a problem when the level of the Salamonie River rose higher than the elevation of the those downtown areas Wednesday morning. Flood waters receded in those areas after the river water level dropped overnight.
“We have a little room in the river to stand a little rain, but we don’t need a whole lot,” Harker said. Street department employees went back to cleaning up limbs and debris this morning, but were ready to get back onto flood control if the river started to rise.
“If we get a thunderstorm with a large downpour with another two inches, we could be in trouble. It all depends on how long it rains,” Harker said.
He commended the efforts of volunteers who helped fill sandbags at the street department garage, located on Garfield Avenue behind the Portland Water Department Plant, on Wednesday.
“We had a lot of volunteers. They did a great job sandbagging,” Harker said. “We had adults, business owners, teachers and students. They did a fantastic job.”
The director of local emergency operations said this morning he hoped the brief respite from the rain was enough to avoid a repeat.
“I’ll qualify it by saying yes, if we don’t get another two inches” of rain today, Ralph Frazee, director of Jay County Emergency Management, said by phone.
Frazee said that virtually all of his efforts are currently focused on flood prevention and recovery, although the local American Red Cross chapter is still providing food and shelter to some whose homes are still without power.
Frazee said the Salamonie River crested sometime Wednesday evening, nearly escaping its banks in several places through Portland. The river had dropped five or six feet by mid-morning today.
No electricity was still an issue for some Jay County residents this morning.
But Jay County REMC employees were smiling this morning after it was announced at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday that power had been restored to all of their customers.
“There are some customers who need repairs to damage to their service,” REMC director of marketing Cindy Denney said this morning. She added she knows of four customers who need to make those repairs.
“The big stuff is done ... Everything is on. Everybody has smiles on their faces today.”
Any REMC customer who doesn’t have power should call (260) 726-7121 or (800) 835-7362.
Indiana Michigan Power Company community affairs manger Jim Riggle said this morning that some residents in the southern part of Portland and the county are still without power.
“We have had to repair the main distribution lines in those areas,” Riggle said.
Rain has slowed some efforts because trucks cannot get to some areas they need to because of mud and flooded areas.
“The rain is not helping things,” Riggle said.
As of 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, approximately 750 residents were still without power in the Portland, Jay County and Winchester areas. A total of 1,575 residents were without electricity Wednesday night in the six-county area affected by the Jan. 5 ice storm.
I&M officials still project that they will have approximately 100 percent power restored by tonight.
“We do have some customers with damage at their property. We will have employees working all week ... to help those customers. We don’t want anyone in the cold,” Riggle said.
With more than 1,800 electric company employees working countless hours to restore power to the area, Riggle said there have been no major injuries. Only one minor injury was reported after a lineman bruised his hip last week after falling on the ice.
Portland Mayor Bruce Hosier said about 92 to 95 percent of Portland residents had power this morning. But areas on Floral Avenue, Union and Wayne streets were without power this morning.
“There are still some isolated areas in the city (without power),” Hosier said.
He encourages city residents still without power to contact the Portland Police Department at (260) 726-7161.
“We are staying in contact with (I&M),” Hosier said. “It is essential that all residents of the city have power before the cold hits.”
The Portland Fire Department, located on Franklin Street behind Wal-Mart, continues as a shelter for Jay County. Another shelter open to adults only is located at MIller’s Merry Manor on county road 300 South in Dunkirk.
Hoosier Heartland Chapter of the American Red Cross representative Brian Fern said this morning that shelter locations are subject to change, and residents needing help should call (260) 726-9530 or (800) 480-4403.
“We are so grateful to the places that have stepped up and the area businesses that have provided supplies at the shelters,” Fern said.
The Red Cross is in need of volunteers to perform a variety of duties including driving, answering phones, general office duties and moving and loading supplies all over their four county area including Jay, Randolph, Delaware and Blackford counties.
Anyone interested in volunteering can call (765) 284-3361 with their availability to volunteer.
While workers from power companies have had the most difficult and vital job over the past week, employees of Sprint, which provides local phone service to most of Jay County, have been busy as well.
Jack Moore, director of community relations for Sprint in northern Indiana, said earlier this week that it’s “going to be another week, 10 days before things are back to normal. All in all, we’re in pretty good shape.”
Most of Sprint’s main equipment kept functioning, with most of the problems caused by lines pulled down from poles or from residences or businesses.
“We’ve had our challenges, too. I couldn’t be more pleased with the work force ... I’d like to thank the folks for their patience and, even more importantly, express how proud I am of our work force. The measure of a company is (its) work force in a crisis. And they’ve really come through,” Moore said.
Moore said he recommends that all homes have at least one corded phone available for use during power outages.
******
CR staffer Mike Snyder contributed to this story.[[In-content Ad]]
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