Update: Still inaccessible

While flood waters have crested, much of downtown Portland and the surrounding area remains inaccessible because of flooding.

Flooding that began forcing road closures late Monday with water continuing to rise throughout the day today was still the norm as of about 8 p.m.

U.S. 27 (Meridian Street) remained closed between county road 200 South and Votaw Street. A vast area surrounding downtown Portland is flooded, with water covering roughly from the Arch Bridge to the south, Middle Street to the west and Votaw Street to the north and extending in some cases to the eastern edge of the city.

Flood waters were expected to crest about 4 p.m., but water continued to rise until about 6:30 p.m. Portland police say the water is beginning to recede, but is doing so slowly.

The flooding, declared a state of emergency by Portland Mayor Randy Geesaman, drew a visit via helicopter this evening from Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. State and local officials are working together to provide flood relief, and there is a Red Cross shelter set up at Jay County High School.

A flood warning will remain in effect until at least 4:45 a.m. Wednesday. The National Weather Service forecast calls for mostly sunny skies Wednesday and Thursday before there is a 30-percent chance of thunderstorms beginning Friday and extending through the weekend.

More than 14 inches of rain fell in some areas of the county in June according to the NWS, and heavy rain has continued this month. There were reports of as much as 5 inches of rain Monday.

This marks the third and most severe flooding event in Portland in a span of less than a month. Today's water levels are similar to those of 2011, in what was said then to be a flood likely to happen only once every 50 years.

For more information, read Wednesday's edition of The Commercial Review. It will again be made available for free at http://www.thecr.com as delivery issues are likely to persist.