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May 17, 2009

Morin area fears subside

BY BRIAN L. HUCHEL

DANVILLE — It was not the sound Morin Addition resident Nevia Newell wanted to hear.

“I could hear that river down there gushing over the bank,” she said.

Newell and other Morin Addition residents watched Saturday night as flood waters inched closer to their homes.

But as of Sunday the river was falling and concerns were easing.

The Vermilion County Emergency Management Agency confirmed at 8 p.m. Saturday that rising waters from the Vermilion River were threatening as many as 20 residents in the Morin Addition, located on the west side of Danville.

The waters, which had reached 20 feet about that time, were forecast to crest around 23 feet, prompting many there to start moving their possessions, such as their vehicles, to higher ground.

But the water levels eased during the night, instead cresting at 21½ feet just before 3 a.m. Sunday. The crest was well into flood stage, which is 18 feet, but just short of reaching moderate flooding point for the river.

Newell said she and her dog left her mobile home to stay at her son’s home Saturday night in case the flooding worsened.

By Sunday, things had improved.

“It’s looking good,” she said Sunday afternoon.

Barring any secondary surge in river waters, the area should be safe from flooding problems, according to EMA.

Danville firefighters were called in to complete a door-to-door notification of the flooding potential in the Morin Addition because of the initially rising waters, according to EMA. The notification, which ran from 9:50-10:50 p.m., was followed by Danville police who monitored rising waters in that area during the night.

Jamie Davis with the local American Red Cross office said volunteers were on standby to help with any evacuations and offer shelter as a result of the flooding. But she said the Red Cross was not called upon.

All of the high waters in Vermilion County appeared to be starting a gradual fall back to normal levels after back to back storms on Wednesday and Friday dumped 4 ½ inches of rain throughout the county.

The North Fork River near Bismarck was measured at 13 ¾ feet by mid afternoon Sunday after the river had reached a point of just more than 17 feet late Saturday evening.

Along the Middle Fork River near Oakwood, waters stood at a little more than 7 feet after cresting early Saturday night at 12¼ feet.

A flood warning for Vermilion County was allowed to expire at 6 p.m. Sunday without an extension. The National Weather Service in Lincoln reported flooding occurring in northern parts of Vermilion County early Sunday morning.

The Vermilion River, according to figures from the U.S. Geological Survey, was expected to drop below flood stage after 2 a.m. today.

On the Indiana side of things, the Wabash River was expected to crest in Covington, Ind., at 24 feet — the lower level for moderate flooding there.

In Clinton, Ind., however, high waters were forecast by the U.S. Geological Survey to reach a crest of 24.6 feet this afternoon.

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