CLAY COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – With the large amount of rain we have received in the area, concerns about levees being able to hold have been raised.
Clay County Emergency Management Director Rob Gambill spoke with WTWO this morning about those concerns.
“There are two levees we have been concerned about. The first is the New Brunswick Bridge Area, and the other is on County Road 1200 North/Canal Road,” explained Gambill.
Gambill met with officials from Jasonville this morning to discuss the levee at the New Brunswick Bridge Area.
“The levee has not given way. However, there is a notch out and we can see another hole but can’t get out to it,” said Gambill.
Those issues have added to the flooding on State Road 59. The levee on County Road 1200 N does have water overtop it.
“There is overtopping and a notch is out of it,” said Gambill.
The levees, according to Gambill, have been under great pressure.
“We are hopeful that if the water drops four feet today, as predicted, it will relieve that pressure,” Gambill said.
A concern with that levee is the amount of farmland that could be flooded. Gambill noted that it is a large agricultural area and worries about those farmers who have already started planting.
Gambill stressed the importance of not driving through standing water adding “beg people not to drive through standing water. The road may have caved under the water.”
Gambill pointed out this past weekend’s death of firefighter Roy Smith as an example of the danger. Smith was on his way to a flood rescue when he was in a fatal accident.
“We lost a firefighter responding to an incident. That is such a tragedy, and we don’t want another,” said Gambill.
