Floods Keep Roads Closed, Kill Three

The rain has stopped and flood waters have started to recede in the immediate Q101 area. But Senior Forecaster Todd Holsten at the National Weather Service office in North Webster tells The New Q101 that flooded roads will continue to be a problem this morning. "The water levels will come down and hopefully we’ll get rid of all these road closures here by late this afternoon," Holsten says. Many county roads in Kosciusko, Whitley, Wabash and Fulton Counties remained closed because of high water this morning. There were no reports of state or U-S highways closed in the immediate Q101 area, but to the west, sections of U-S 24, U-S 35 and other highways were closed.

Flooded roads were responsible for at least three deaths yesterday. On a county road in Fulton County, just south of the Kosciusko County line, two children died when flood waters swept their mother’s S-U-V off a road. Police say 29-year-old Megihann Leininger drove a Chevy Tahoe into the water and by the time she realized it was too deep, the S-U-V floated into even deeper water and began to sink. Leininger was only able to get three of her children onto the roof of the vehicle before the cabin filled with water. Five-year-old Shay Leininger and two-year-old Ashley Pruitt died.

In Remington, which is along I-65 north of Lafayette, a 56-year-old man died when floodwaters swept his truck into a creek.

In North Manchester, the rising Eel River forced about 40 people to evacuate the East Side Trailer Court last night. The Red Cross opened a shelter in North Manchester, but reports indicate the shelter had closed by this morning.

In the White County city of Monticello, rescuers used boats to evacuate hundreds of people from their homes. Jasper, White, Carroll and Benton counties declared states of emergency because of floods.