Flood — Owen, Indiana

2003-09-02 to 2003-09-08 · Owen, Indiana

Wider weather episode

8 to 10 inches of rain fell across central Indiana during the Labor Day weekend causing major flooding along parts of the White River. In fact, Indianapolis received the most rain ever for a calendar day (7.2 inches) breaking the old record set in 1895 (6.8 inches). According to a local newspaper account, nearly 3,000 residents across central Indiana applied for flood assistance and flood damage was estimated in excess of 20 million dollars. SEMA reports indicated more than 300 homes and nearly 60 businesses were flooded. Nearly 200 people were forced to evacuate their residences. The cities of Muncie and Anderson had near major flooding as the river crested at its highest level since April 1964 and June 1958 respectively. While the city proper of Muncie was protected by levees, considerable flood damage occurred in areas just outside of the city proper. Sandbagging in the city of Anderson saved more than 100 homes from flood damage. The local flood protection would have been overtopped without the sandbagging. There was extensive flooding across Hamilton County, however levels were nearly 2 feet below those of July 2003. The White River in the southern portion of Marion County came up 15 feet in just 18 hours after the rain ended. The greatest flood since January 1, 1991 on the White River in Indianapolis met the record flood on White Lick Creek near Centerton and produced the largest flood ever seen in Morgan County since March 1913. This flood raced downstream and struck Owen County on the 3rd. Consequently, Owen County had its worst flooding since January 1991. As this flood approached Greene County, the flood transformed to an extensive agricultural flood and its speed slowed. A near major flood along the Eel River in the Bowling Green area met this large flood along the White River at Worthington. The resulting flooding in Greene County exceeded the July 2003 flood by 2.5 feet. This was the biggest flood in Greene County since May 2002. Location: Flood Stage: Crest: Date of Crest:Muncie 9.0 14.02 09/02/03Anderson 10.0 19.52 09/03/03Noblesville 14.0 19.99 09/04/03Nora 11.0 15.35 09/04/03Ravenswood 6.0 9.5 09/04/03Indianapolis 16.0 19.65 09/01/03Centerton 12.0 19.87 09/02/03Spencer 14.0 23.30 09/04/03Worthington 18.0 26.64 09/05/03Elliston 18.0 28.10 09/06/03Newberry 13.0 22.93 09/06/03Edwardsport 15.0 23.30 09/07/03

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5336933. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.