By MARGUERITE INCARDONE, KATIE COX & GREGG MONTGOMERY
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
The White River broke a 113-year-old record Saturday, Aug. 15, in Noblesville as flooding forced 170 people to voluntarily leave their homes.
Carmel, Fishers and Noblesville issued state of emergency declarations Saturday, which will allow them to apply for recovery funds. Hamilton County remained under a state of emergency on Saturday.
A news release from Carmel city government said 40 people were evacuated from 41 homes. Of those people, 12 were taken to Northview Church for shelter. Also, residents of Bickford of Carmel Assisted Living and Montessori Memory Care off 116th Street near Hazel Dell Road were evacuated as a precaution to another Bickford facility in Greenwood or Northview Church.
The flooding also caused sinkholes that later led to the collapse of a portion of Hazel Dell Parkway at Blue Woods Creek. Both directions of Hazel Dell Parkway south of 106th Street and the surrounding pedestrian paths were closed.
Fishers evacuated an unknown number of people from homes along Wapahani Drive, directly east of the White River, on Saturday morning, according to a Facebook post.
None of the Hamilton County cities have reported no fatalities or serious injuries.
Along with the 170 residents in Noblesville, emergency workers helped move five dogs and one groundhog to safety.
The river crested early Saturday at 24.6 feet in Noblesville, surpassing the 1913 record of 23.8 feet. By Saturday afternoon, the water level dropped to 23.6 feet, but officials estimate it will take weeks for the city to return to normal.
Crews are at noontime were using drones to survey the damage in Noblesville. While Federal Hill Commons – a city park with a popular music stage and the site of weekly farmers’ markets – was designed to serve as a floodplain, the high water forced utility workers to shut off power at a nearby apartment complex. Many other parts of Noblesville were also experiencing power outages at midday.
The Noblesville wastewater treatment plant was working, and officials confirmed there was no contamination in the White River. However, Noblesville officials asked residents to use water sparingly over the next few hours while systems work to keep up with the high demand.
This story was originally published by WISH-TV at wishtv.com/weather/weather-stories/flooding-forces-home-evacuations-in-carmel-noblesville-after-historic-river-peak.
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