Flash Flood — Lake, Indiana

2025-08-18 · near Whiting, Lake, Indiana

Event narrative

Several instances of flash flooding took place around Gary, Hammond, Whiting, and East Chicago. A sewer storage facility exceeded capacity and overflowed. Multiple basements were flooded in Hammond. Up to three feet of water was reported on Indianapolis Blvd in Whiting from 120th to 129th Street. A portion of US-20 in East Chicago was closed due to flooding. Numerous reports of flooded basements, roads, and yards came out of the east side of Hammond and the west side of Gary. One private weather weather station in the area recorded 5.21 inches of rain while two others nearby recorded over three inches. An estimated 1,000 structures flooded around the area amounting to roughly $4 million in damages.

Wider weather episode

A series of strong thunderstorms brought torrential rain and flooding to portions of far northwestern Indiana during the evening and night of the 18th. Automated rain gauges and Cocorahs reports from northern Lake and Porter Counties generally ranged between two and four inches with isolated reports closer to five inches. Initial estimates have around 1,000 structures flooded in Lake County amounting to near $4 million in damages.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.7050, -87.5232)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1292412. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.