Flash flood watch forces Madison County to create hundreds of sandbags
ANDERSON, Ind. (WISH) – Steady showers are creating issues across Madison County, leaving some neighborhoods under feet of water.
Jenifer Cox lives on Estate Street, which is one of those blocks surrounded by water. Unfortunately, she said it’s not an uncommon sight.
“At least four to five times a year,” Cox said.
Cox moved to the street three years ago, without realizing the high water amenity that comes with her house, which does not just affect her front yard. “No, it’s the back,” Cox said. “Yes. I live in a moat.”
She’s not the only one. The rainfall swallowed her street.
“[My neighbor’s] sign in the yard is almost completely covered up,” Cox said. “It’s like we’re living in a flood zone. Where’s the help?”
County highway crews say it’s coming. For the first time, signs were added.
“It was about time,” Cox said. “It certainly was about time.”
Highway crews also put devices in pipes to look for drainage issues. “We’ve checked on it every day this week,” Madison County Highway Department general foreman, Gerald Imel said.
The rainfall isn’t just putting one neighborhood under water. It’s so bad, the county had to fill bags with sand to give neighbors one last line of defense. “It’s countywide,” Imel said. “You can’t just put this at one certain point of the county. It’s countywide.”
As of Thursday afternoon, two roads were closed, and 36 streets have high water signs. Cox’s road is one of them. Crews said they’ll take a closer look once the water recedes. “Just be patient, I guess, just be patient with us,” Imel said.
That’s a virtue Cox said is running thin, especially when she hears the pounding sound of an unwelcomed guest.
“I wish I could say it was oceanfront property,” Cox said. “It looks like a disaster area, honestly.”
County emergency management said the area could receive four inches of rain by Friday night, There’s a flash flood watch until then.
That’s why those sandbags are sitting outside the county highway building on eighth street in Anderson.