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Muncie family’s home damaged by weekend flooding

MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — People on the south side of Muncie are picking up the pieces after heavy winds and a downpour ripped through the area Sunday night.

The storm damaged homes, displaced families and produced more than three inches of rain.

Jackson Cole said his wife and kids were sitting in their living room, when he walked out the door a tree fell on his roof near 26th Street and Elm Street.

“Things have been pretty catastrophic over the last 24 hours,” Cole said.

His living room and his son’s room are now soaked and covered in debris. The storm created multiple holes in his ceiling and sent tree limbs into his house.

The family shuffled through Monday, grabbed their clothes and took them back to their hotel room.

“It’s pretty traumatic,” Cole said. “When it first happened, everybody was pretty much in shock. Now we’re all pretty much in a mode where we’ve got to survive, get everything back together and try to live day-by-day.”

A director with Bridges Community Services said three other families stayed at the Bridges shelter have being displaced from the storm.

They’ve all moved on to other locations.

The Coles don’t know how long they’ll see tree limbs piled on their front lawn or how long they’ll be in a hotel, but they say they’re grateful.

People from all over Muncie are stepping in and offering to help however they can.

“This storm wasn’t something that we usually have. Not a regular thunderstorm,” Cole said. “It was a lot of crying. A lot of hugs. I’m glad that everybody’s okay.”

An online map from the Indiana Michigan Power Company showed most outages restored Monday afternoon but, according to the map, more than 100 people in Grant County still didn’t have power.