Flood — Knox, Indiana

2008-06-05 to 2008-06-22 · near Wheatland, Knox, Indiana

Event narrative

Flooding occurred along the White River in Knox County, including near the Petersburg, Hazleton, and Edwardsport areas, due to heavy rain and levee breaches. Levee unit 8 failed in the Smother's Creek area near Edwardsport. The levee breach failure caused the White River to crest at Edwardsport. More than 20,000 acres of Daviess County flooded as a result of the levee failure.

Wider weather episode

Massive and historic flooding struck central Indiana. In Indiana alone, flood waters affected over 25,000 people. This flood affected about 9% of the state's farmland. The Great Flood of June 2008 was one of Indiana's costliest natural disasters. Heavy rainfall on May 30th allowed streams and rivers to rise. Additional heavy rainfall on the 3rd and the 4th added to these high levels. Severe weather brought heavy rainfall on the 6th as well. The stage was set for historic flooding in portions of central and southern Indiana. The storms on the 6th exacerbated the situation by laying down a boundary in southern Illinois and southern Indiana. A moist southerly low level jet rode over this boundary for more than 12 hours continually generating showers and thunderstorms. Rainfall of two to nearly eleven inches fell across portions of central and southern Indiana. The impact of the rain was immediate with widespread flooding developing and major roads and interstates flooded. This episode is in reference to flooding of the White River.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.6978, -87.3001)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 116756. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.