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http://thenewsdispatch.com/main.asp?Sectio...&TM=47337.5

1/9/2008 11:03:00 AM
Record Rains Soak State
Up to 5 inches fall during storms, killing three in north-central Indiana in its wake.

Rick Richards
City Editor, The News-Dispatch

MICHIGAN CITY - A Michigan City woman was rescued from her partially submerged car Tuesday after she tried to drive through the flooded underpass at U.S. 35 and Indiana 212.

Officer Bruce Krause waded to the woman's car and carried her piggy-back to dry ground. The woman, driving a Ford Taurus, became stranded when the high water flooded the car's engine.

That wasn't the only car stopped by high water at the cloverleaf. Marilyn McKay of Long Beach said a passerby pushed her car out of the water, although it later had to be towed because the engine wouldn't refire.

McKay said she and her husband, Bob, were on their way to Indianapolis about 8:45 a.m. when the engine quit on their Volvo while going through the water. Within a few minutes, Jeremy Hagenow tapped on the window and told them "put it in neutral" and he would push them out of the water.

"He had a big pickup truck and pushed us up and to one side," she said.

"We felt very grateful to be rescued," she said. "It voided our trip to Indianapolis."

Flooding in La Porte and in southern La Porte County prompted several calls to La Porte County Emergency Management, where the agency made sandbags available.

Unfilled bags may be picked up at the La Porte County Highway Department garages in La Porte and Hanna, Fran Tibbot of the Emergency Management Agency explained.

Michigan City and La Porte, as well as much of the rest of central and northern Indiana, were socked by an unusual January thunderstorm starting at about 7 p.m. Monday and continuing through Tuesday.

By 7 a.m. Tuesday, Michigan City had received 3.04 inches of rain, according to Earl Breon, a meteorologist with the U.S. Weather Service station in North Webster, Ind.

"The rainfall really broke some records," Breon said, describing the deluge as "unusual."

The record for a January rainfall in South Bend is 0.84 inches, he said. By 6 a.m. Tuesday, 1.78 inches of rain had fallen there.

In White County, more than 5 inches of rain fell.

There, the Tippecanoe River was experiencing record flows of water.

A flood warning was issued downstream at 4:15 a.m. Tuesday, and then raised to a flood emergency at 7 a.m. as water levels continued to rise.

By 11 a.m. Tuesday, more than 26,000 cubic feet of water per second was flowing through NIPSCO's Norway and Oakdale dams.

The previous record for both dams was 22,000 cubic feet of water per second. Typically, flooding begins to occur around the 14,000 cubic foot mark.

"We want to assure residents of the area that there is no threat that the dams might fail," said Colleen Reilly, a spokeswoman for NIPSCO. "We are experiencing record flows, but the dams are operating as designed."

Because of the heavy rain, the Indiana Department of Transportation's La Porte District closed several roads and intersections because of standing water.

At 11 a.m. Tuesday, the cloverleaf and ramps at U.S. 35 and Indiana 212 in Michigan City was closed. Also Indiana 23 at Ireland Road in South Bend; Indiana 331 from U.S. 6 to the South Bend bypass, and Indianapolis Boulevard south of the Little Calumet River in Lake County.

In addition, lanes of Interstate 94 near Chesterton were closed for a time, although they were open by afternoon.

Flooding was especially bad in Fulton County about 75 miles south of Michigan City. Two children died in a submerged car.

The Fulton County Sheriff's Department said Megihann K. Leininger, 29, of Fulton County was driving her five children along a flooded road near Rochester when her SUV stalled.

Leininger was able to rescue three of her children, ages 3 months to 4 years, but she was unable to get to 5-year-old Shay Leininger and 2-year-old Ashley Pruitt, who died.

In Remington in Jasper County, a man drowned when he was swept into floodwaters while trying to get out of his house after Carpenter Creek flooded, said Karen Wilson, Jasper County Emergency Management director.



Contributing to this story were Amanda Haverstick, Dave Hawk and The Associate Press.



Contact Rick A. Richards at news@thenewsdispatch.com.