The U.S. state of Indiana emergency operations center and state officials said
on Aug. 15 that consecutive strong storms and flooding have killed at least six
people. Heavy rain over the past week raised river levels across multiple
waterways and forced several hundred residents to evacuate. Indianapolis Mayor
Joe Hogsett said the city is experiencing its worst flooding in more than 30
years. More than a dozen Indiana counties have declared local disaster;
emergency crews and the National Guard are conducting rescue and relief
operations. Earlier this week severe storms across the U.S. Midwest, also
affecting Illinois, Kentucky and Ohio, spawned tornadoes, heavy rain and flash
floods and temporarily cut power to nearly 1 million customers.
