Holcomb clears way for aid in 3 Indiana counties hit by Labor Day weekend flooding

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Gov. Eric Holcomb on Thursday paved the way for three southeastern Indiana counties to get added resources after flooding during the Labor Day weekend.

Indiana Department of Homeland Security on Sept. 6 had declared local disasters after near-record rainfall after slow-moving storms in Ohio, Jefferson and Switzerland counties, all west of Cincinnati. In the flooding, at least one person died.

Indiana’s Homeland Security, in a news release issued Thursday about the governor’s action, said, “The rain caused catastrophic flooding and severe damage to infrastructure, including roads, homes, buildings and bridges. Switzerland County experienced significant widespread damage and at least one death was attributed to the flooding.”

The governor’s order frees up public assistance for infrastructure, not individual homes.

State government leaders will work with authorities from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to determine if the damage meets the threshold for federal assistance.

Storm Track 8’s Ryan Morse reported Sept. 6 that radar estimates from midday Sept. 3 to midday Sept. 6 showed areas in Switzerland County getting over 10 inches of rain. The largest amounts appeared to have fallen just to the west of Fairview, an unincorporated community in Switzerland County. A more widespread amount of at least 2 inches of rain fell across much of southern Indiana from Sept. 3-6.

Most of the rain fell on Sept. 3 where flash flooding happened. East of Pleasant on State Road 250 in Switzerland County, a bridge was taken out due to the flooding. Jefferson County was also heavily affected with this rainfall from creeks rising rapidly. In Manville, an unincorporated community in Jefferson County, multiple homes were damaged, and one person died, according to Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency.