Indiana Floods Kill Three, Governor Braun Seeks Federal Disaster Declaration as 16 Million Stay Under Flood Watch

Since floodwaters first overwhelmed Indiana communities Wednesday in what officials called a 1-in-1,000-year rainfall event, the death toll in the state has climbed to at least three, and roughly 16 million Americans remain under flood watches across the Midwest as of Saturday, August 15.

The rain hasn't let up. Saturday marks a sixth straight day of flooding rain for the region, according to CNN, with Fox Weather reporting that flash flood risk expanded again over the weekend as storms train along a stalled weather front.

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun declared a statewide disaster emergency Thursday and mobilized the Indiana National Guard. He requested a presidential emergency declaration through FEMA on Friday, according to CNN and Yahoo News. No word yet from the White House on whether that request will be approved.

The Deaths

A 58-year-old woman was found dead near her car on a flooded road in Yorktown, Indiana, on Friday, according to the Delaware County Sheriff's Office, cited by Yahoo News. Authorities believe she tried to drive through several feet of water and her vehicle was swept away.

An 18-year-old remains missing in Delaware County after jumping into a river Wednesday night. Boat-based search operations were suspended because conditions were too dangerous to continue, the sheriff's office told CNN.

Two other people were killed in Indiana earlier in the week during a powerful derecho that swept from eastern Iowa across Chicagoland and northern Indiana into the central Appalachians, according to Fox Weather.

Record Water Levels

The White River in Anderson, Indiana, hit nearly 25 feet Friday morning, the highest level in more than 100 years, according to CNN and Yahoo News. The Whitewater River forced evacuations in Dearborn County before dropping below flood stage Friday morning.

In Cambridge City, Indiana, Timothy Hicks, a father of six, told the Associated Press he grabbed his kids and ran for the car without shoes or clothes as water poured into his home Wednesday. "It just crushes me. My kids' house is gone," he said, according to CNN and Yahoo News, which both carried the same AP-sourced account.

Yorktown Fire Department Lt. Blair Webster told CNN his crews rescued roughly 10 people from stranded vehicles and flooded homes since Wednesday, with chest-deep water in parts of town. The Yorktown Public Library posted images of floodwater submerging book stacks and children's toys.

Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett declared a local disaster emergency for the city and Marion County Friday night. Yorktown declared its own disaster emergency Thursday.

Beyond Indiana

A Flash Flood Emergency, the National Weather Service's highest-level flood warning, was issued for Knott County in eastern Kentucky Thursday night after 1.5 to 3.25 inches of rain fell in a matter of hours, according to Fox Weather. Several water rescues followed in the northern part of the county.

In Ohio, roughly 375 people were forced to evacuate because of flooding, according to CNN and Yahoo News. More than 300,000 customers across Illinois, Indiana and Ohio remained without power early Friday, largely lingering outages from Tuesday's derecho that had knocked out power to over a million customers at its peak, Fox Weather reported.

A new cluster of thunderstorms developed over Nebraska and Iowa early Friday, and Yahoo News reported soaking morning storms brought fresh flash flooding from Iowa to Illinois before another round was set to push into Iowa by Friday evening and spread east overnight.

What's Still Unclear

The scale of economic damage hasn't been tallied. Bill Smith, who owns Village Smith and Village Smith Coffee Bar, told CNN that residents "won't know until we see how much more flooding may occur with the incoming rain" and that assessing losses will have to wait until floodwaters recede enough for people to get back into their buildings.

Farmers across the saturated Midwest are also facing potential crop losses as fields disappear under water, though no state or federal agency has yet released damage estimates for agriculture.

Whether FEMA grants Braun's request for a presidential emergency declaration remains to be seen. Such a declaration would unlock federal funding for response and recovery beyond what the state and National Guard can cover on their own. Ground saturation means even modest additional rainfall could trigger new flooding regardless of what happens with that request, according to CNN's Friday reporting, which noted millions remain under flood watches as the stalled weather front continues feeding storms into the region.