Flood in Pike County, Indiana

Moderate flooding occurred along the White River. There was extensive flooding of bottomland fields and woods in northern Pike County. Floodwaters came onto State Route 257 east of Petersburg, resulting in a fatality. A vehicle containing a man and his wife drove into floodwaters just south of the State Route 257 bridge, then became submerged. The couple got out of the vehicle and clung to some tree branches in the water. The man and a dog were rescued, but the body of the man's wife was not found for several days. The man was transported to a regional hospital for treatment of hypothermia. The submerged pickup truck was located about 75 yards from the roadway. Some bottomland county roads were flooded, some by several feet of water. County roads that were flooded east of State Route 57 included 750N, 600N, and 1000E. Pike County roads that flooded west of Route 57 included 250W, 400W, 675N, 700N, 1000W, 900W, 700W, and 775W. Several small oil fields were inaccessible. High water isolated some river cabin residents. At the Petersburg river gage, the river crested at 24.43 feet on the 29th. Flood stage is 16 feet.

Heavy rainfall shortly before Christmas caused sharp rises on regional rivers. The heavy rainfall was caused by a slow-moving cold front that passed across the Lower Ohio and Mid Mississippi Valleys between the 20th and 22nd. Several low pressure systems moved north-northeast along the front, touching off numerous showers and thunderstorms. Generally only minor river flooding was reported.