White County dam reaches dangerous levels, residents rescued

WHITE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) – First responders from the Buffalo and Monticello Fire departments were out since 3:30 Tuesday morning performing water rescues for residents in the Buffalo area.

White County EMA deputy director Shantal Henson confirmed that at 3:30 a.m., crews arrived at a house on Utah Court that was surrounded by water at least three feet deep. One family inside was displaced. Crews are still on scene assisting nearby residents.

A flood warning for the county was issued at 1:30 a.m. when Norway Dam levels were at about 13,000 cubic feet. In about six hours, those levels had increased to more than 18,000 cubic feet per second and is still rising.

Henson said a “power surge” occurred around 4:50 a.m. and about 2,000 residents in the Monticello area were without power. Crews are working to restore that outage.

Several hundred Carroll White REMC customers also lost power, but power has since been restored there.

As of 7:30 a.m., Henson said County Road 900 North between Lowes Road and County Road 900 East as well as Lowes Road between County Road 900 North to 1600 North are both closed. There is also no access to Maple Bend in either direction.