Crews used boats to help residents amid Midwest flooding
ELKHART, Ind. — Crews used boats to help residents evacuate their homes in northern Indiana after rainstorms sweeping across the Midwest on Wednesday combined with melting snow to flood rivers, roads and other low-lying areas in several states.
The storm system started pushing heavy rain, snow and ice into the region this week. The weather has already been blamed for hundreds of car crashes and several fatalities, including a crash that killed four people along a slippery interstate in Nebraska.
About 19 people had been evacuated from homes in Elkhart, where emergency crews used boats and an armoured vehicle to respond, Mayor Tim Neese said early Wednesday. Schools were closed in the northern Indiana city because of the flooding, and an emergency shelter was set up, The Elkhart Truth newspaper reported.
“This city has not seen flooding like this in the last 45 years,” Neese said. “We also had record snowfall in addition to consistent rain.”