Flood Update

Believe it or not, the picture you see to the left isn't a riverfront boardwalk in Chicago, or the canal that goes through downtown Indianapolis. The picture to the left is Headwater's Park in downtown Fort Wayne- or at least whats still above water, that is.



Due to heavy rain and snowmelt over the past couple of days, rivers in northern Indiana and Ohio have been on the rise, and flood warnings cover nearly every county in northeastern Indiana. The St. Joseph in Fort Wayne was at 17.4 feet Thursday afternoon, while the flood stage is 12 feet. The river is forcasted to crest Friday morning, and go below flood stage by early Tuesday morning. However, that may not be the case, as more rain and snow will enter the area tomorrow afternoon, starting as rain, then changing over to snow. 1 to 2 inches of snow is possible Friday evening, and although the precipitation will be frozen- highs could reach above 40 degrees early next week, meaning more snowmelt.



To look at the brightside of the situation, just imagine how things would look right now if we had recieved the forcasted 12-14 inches of snow last week, instead of the 3.8 inches (Fort Wayne) we got. Things could be much worse than they are at the moment, and this flood could have been a moderate to major flood in severity, although the flood already is exceeding levels reached in recent years.



As for traffic, don't head down Clinton into downtown for a while. Water is flooding from one park to the other, meaning there's some water flooding over Clinton street, and traffic is down to one lane. Also, areas to the west of Clinton and north of downtown are a mess, and plenty of streets are closed down due to flooding. Headwater's Park, Lawtown Park, as well as the skate park are under water as of Thursday afternoon.

The image to the right is a shot looking at Clinton Street from the upper level of Headwater's Park. While it's only a matter of inches over Clinton, it is plenty enough to slow traffic and reduce the street to one lane. Clinton isn't nearly as bad as some other streets in the area, however, as plenty of areas to the north and west of Headwater's Park are under water.

In addition to the area to the northwest, plenty of areas along the river to the southwest of Headwater's Park, particularly areas on Superior street, are flooding through as well. While this isn't a major flood for Fort Wayne, it is creating plenty of problems for the area, and probably has worked it's way from a minor flood to a moderate flood.

Sandbagging is going on at plenty of locations around the city, the following list is from the City of Fort Wayne's website:

Portage Middle School – 3521 Taylor Street
Broadview Florist – 5409 Winchester Road
Taylor University – 1025 W. Rudisill Blvd. (parking lot on the south side of Rudisill)
Southwest Conservation Club – 5701 Bluffton Road

Other sources have said that sandbagging is going on at various other locations, including Fellowship Missionary Church at 2536 Tillman Road, however I can't confirm that at this time. An update from the National Weather Service (NWS) suggests many rivers may crest as late as Saturday afternoon, or as early as Friday morning. With more precipitation on the way, we'll just have to wait and see what happens.