Residents flee third flood in one year

CARROLL COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - As the Tippecanoe River rises, some Carroll County residents have been forced to leave their homes for the third time in just over a year.
It's deja vu for many people who say they are still cleaning up the flooding mess from last year. Horseshoe Bend resident, Kirt Yates, said he is staying put despite warnings to leave. He said his home can withstand the rising waters.

"I'm not worried about it because I jacked the house up four feet. I wouldn't think it's going to get much more higher than what it is now. I hope not," Yates said.

Carroll County Emergency Management Director Dave McDowell said 200 houses have already been affected by floodwater and water covering roads. He said about 50 to 100 residents did follow orders to leave their homes.

"It was a little bit higher than what I thought it would be. I didn't think we got that much rain," Dave Spurgeon said.

But Dave Spurgeon, who has lived in Horseshoe Bend for 35 years, plans to stay despite the warnings to get out.

"Actually our structure is above the 100-year flood mark but we got a little water in it last year overnight. But that was not a typical flood," Spurgeon said.

Brenda Bower and her husband moved into her brother's house at Horseshoe Bend, after they lost their home to foreclosure. But a few days ago, high water forced them to find safer ground. So she returned home this morning to get medicine for her husband. She was heart broken by what she found.

"We were warned, but it makes you sick. I never wanted to see this. I know now what everybody went through--more so than just seeing the pictures," Bower said.

Bower said many of her neighbors will return once the waters recede. But she's not sure she can do the same.

"We'll probably start looking for an apartment. We're too old to be going through this. He's 73 and it's not anything you want to go through all the time. It makes people too upset," Bower said.

The Red Cross has set up a shelter in Delphi at the First Assembly of God Church on U.S. 421 and State Road 18.