Aurora, In. — The Indiana Department of Homeland Security has been on the scene of severe flooding across southern Indiana. The agency has been monitoring and assisting with the county-level response.
On Saturday, February 24, governor Eric J. Holcomb issued a disaster declaration for 11 Indiana counties due to flooding, including Carroll, Dearborn, Elkhart, Fulton, Lake, Marshall, Perry, St. Joseph, Starke, Switzerland and White counties. This flooding has destroyed or caused severe damage to homes, businesses, structures and infrastructure. On Monday, February 26 seven more counties were added: Benton, Clark, Crawford, Floyd, Jefferson, Spencer and Warrick counties. On Tuesday, February 27 Harrison, Jasper, Ohio and Pulaski Counties were added.
The following 22 counties have issued county emergency declarations: Benton, Carroll, Clark, Crawford, Dearborn, Elkhart, Floyd, Fulton, Harrison, Jasper, Jefferson, Lake, Marshall, Ohio, Perry, Pulaski, Spencer, St. Joseph, Starke, Switzerland, Warrick and White counties.
An emergency declaration at the county level means the commissioners have determined that conditions are such that emergency services may not be provided to the public in a timely fashion, and may be significantly delayed. A county emergency declaration initiates county emergency plans, and allows additional resources to be provided by the state to assist local response efforts.
The Indiana State Department of Health is supplying tetanus vaccines to the following counties: Clark, Marshall, Dearborn, Jefferson, Perry and Carroll.
The State Emergency Operations Center was activated Wednesday, February 21 and continues to respond to requests for assistance from local officials. The State EOC has directly assisted counties by coordinating the delivery of over 750,000 sandbags, two water pumps, heavy equipment and vehicles, labor crews, traffic control, UAV photography and subject matter expertise on disaster response and recovery.
The Department of Natural Resources, Indiana State Police, Indiana Department of Transportation, Indiana Department of Correction, Indiana Department of Environmental Management, Indiana National Guard and the American Red Cross are also providing support.
