Flash Flood — Lake, Indiana

2006-09-13 · near Northwest Portion, Lake, Indiana

Event narrative

Heavy rain fell across parts of northwest Lake County during the middle and late morning hours of September 13th, which caused major and significant flooding. Highland suffered some of the worse flooding with over 1,400 reports of flood damage and 14 homes condemned due to severe damage. At the height of the flooding, 90 percent of the streets in Highland were flooded. School buses were unable to take students home from school and one elementary school had to be evacuated by boat. Over 70 percent of the homes in Highland sustained some damage. Countless streets across northwest Indiana were flooded and impassible. Over 600 homes were damaged by flooding in East Chicago. Flood water was seen shooting out of storm drains and in a few cases, blew the manhole covers into the air. Numerous cars were stranded and floating in flood waters. Rainfall totals included 7.94 inches, 7.50 inches and 6.58 inches, all three in Highland; 6.56 inches in Schererville; 5.31 inches in Hammond; 4.06 inches in Munster and 3.53 inches in Crown Point.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 5534330. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.