At least four people have been rescued from flooded roads, and emergency workers are reminding people not to drive into high water.
Firefighters have had to rescue people from their vehicles along Smith Valley Road and County Line Road due to high water, and have been called out to the area near County Road 200N and County Road 75W twice to rescue people in high water.
On one of those occasions, a driver drove around a stranded vehicle and then got stuck themselves, requiring firefighters to bring out their boat, fire officials said.
With more rain coming, water is expected to remain high, officials said.
Multiple roads across the county are closed due to flooding, including:
- Interstate 65 and County Line Road
- Peterman Road
- Fairview Road
- Smith Valley Road at Paddock Road
- County Line Road and Madison Avenue
- Whiteland Road, near Hurricane Road
- Nineveh Road and County Road 300S
- County Road 200N and County Road 75W
- Saddle Club Road and Stones Crossing Road
- Matthews Road, north of Rocklane Road
- Airport Road and County Road 300S
- Mauxferry Road and County Road 300S
EARLIER TODAY:
Heavy rain hit Johnson County, flooding roads and shutting down part of Interstate 65.
With more rain through tonight, local emergency management officials are concerned about how much more flooding could impact the county.
By 8 a.m., more than 3 in. of rain had fallen in the county, leading to flooding that started near County Line Road and then headed south to Trafalgar as the morning went on. The ground was already saturated before the rain began falling on Monday night, and the water had nowhere to go, Johnson County Emergency Management Director Stephanie Sichting said.
More than 20 roads or intersections were closed by mid-morning due to flooding, according to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office. That included Interstate 65 near County Line Road, where flooding led the interstate to close, and drivers to be diverted or unlucky enough to be caught in a miles-long backup.
Sichting had not heard of water getting into homes and businesses by Tuesday morning, but that was definitely a concern, she said. And in some areas, water was rushing over the roads, making them impassable.
Lightning strikes were also a concern.
Residents in two Bargersville homes had to evacuate after lightning strikes, but luckily the homes were not significantly damaged.
Lightning also struck near the county’s 911 dispatch center, taking down the county’s system. Bartholomew County was taking the county’s 911 calls on Tuesday morning, Sheriff Doug Cox said.
Emergency workers were also using the county’s mobile command center to take calls, Sichting said.
The issue was fixed around 10 a.m., Cox said.
