Associated Press
Published: June 28,2015
Flooded
roadways put a damper on weekend travel in several Midwestern states
over the weekend, and in one area, it was so bad that it led to two
deaths.
More than 90,000 homes remained without power in Michigan
late Sunday morning, DTE Energy confirmed. To the south, more than
30,000 were without power in the Fort Wayne area alone, and crews said
it could be days before the lights come back on for everyone.
In Ohio, there were reports that a nursing home had to be evacuated Sunday morning in Deshler as the floodwaters rose.
"An
unusual storm for late-June began to crank up in the Ohio Valley and
Great Lakes late Friday, before sweeping into the Northeast by Sunday,"
said weather.com meteorologist Chris Dolce. "The storm brought a swath
of heavy rainfall that resulted in flooding across parts of Indiana and
Ohio late Friday into early Saturday. The area of low pressure
associated with the storm also caused strong winds in the eastern Great
Lakes. In Detroit, winds gusted over 30 mph much of Saturday, peaking at
40 mph."
(WATCH: Man Swept Away In Dramatic Sochi, Russia, Floods)
The
storms apparently contributed to the death of 39-year-old Armando Lara
of Noblesville when his car crashed into a utility pole early Saturday
after running into high water on a county road in a rural area just east
of Noblesville, according to the Hamilton County Sheriff's Department.
Authorities said later Saturday that a 16-year-old girl in the back seat
died from her injuries. They said two other juvenile passengers had
minor injuries.
Officials didn't report any home evacuations from the flooding.
Muncie
Mayor Dennis Tyler said he saw manhole covers being lifted off streets
late Friday as storm sewers couldn't handle the downpours that continued
into early Saturday and water reached perhaps 5 feet deep on some
neighborhood streets.
"The water didn't play any favorites, it was everywhere," Tyler said. "Water was in streets where I've never seen before."
Emergency
crews plucked several people from about a dozen cars stranded in high
water during the night before most Muncie streets dried out Saturday.
Many
roads in the state's northern half were closed in areas that had
already seen several inches of rain during June, leaving the ground
saturated and unable to soak in more water.
Jay County emergency
management director Ralph Frazee said 4 to 5 inches of rain fell in
about 24 hours around Portland, which is some 25 miles northeast of
Muncie. Frazee said U.S. 27 and numerous city streets were shut down in
Portland and sandbagging was being done at downtown business buildings
and homes.
(MORE: Devastating Heat Wave Kills More Than 1,200)
The Salamonie River was running so high that storm sewers weren't able to clear rainfall from city streets, he said.
"The river came up so quick and then until it goes down, the water is going to just be held up," Frazee said.
The small city of Woodburn near Fort Wayne had street flooding in some neighborhoods.
Wind
gusts topping 60 mph blew down scores of trees in and around Fort
Wayne, contributing to power outages for about a fifth of Indiana
Michigan Power Co. customers in Allen County. The utility company said
it had more than 600 separate outages in the Fort Wayne area and that it
could take several days for complete restoration.
Tyler said the
storm sent water pouring into the basements of many Muncie homes and
buildings, including City Hall, but that he didn't yet have any
estimates on the severity of the damage.
"What we need are probably 24 hours of no rain," he said.
MORE: From May – Historic Flooding In The Southern Plains
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