Looks like the Tippecanoe River, near the Oakdale Dam and Delphi, is flooding again. It did so twice in 2008 and figures to do so again here in 2009. So far, it’s not as bad as it was last year, thankfully:
Water from the Tippecanoe River was flowing through the Oakdale Dam, which is just north of the homes that were being evacuated, at a rate greater than the flood flow rate of 13,000 cubic feet per second. Monday night, the flow was 14,350 cubic feet per second.
By comparison, in February 2008, the highest rate flowing through the Oakdale Dam was nearly 26,000 cubic feet per second.
Short term, it’s hard to know what to do for people who live in areas that are suddenly subjected to repeated flooding. (I say “suddenly,” but I guess I don’t know — seems like this frequency of flooding has to be relatively new, otherwise initial construction in these places seems unlikely.) Long term, people have to get out of these areas.
There is a serious need to evaluate the whole state on flooding. Whether we are in a weather cycle (global warming or just normal)there has been a major departure from “usual” flooding events. Examples: according the National Weather Service reporting: Lafayette has had 8 of the top 20 floods starting in 2003 to now. The situation is even worse around the state–for example: White River at Spencer has experienced 11 of the top 20 floods starting in 2003 with one or more floods each year making the list (including #2 and #3). DNR and other agencies need to clarify not only the 100 year flood plain but 200-500 (state has been here close to 200 years) and then local enforcement of no development in lower areas. It simply makes no economic sense to keep subsidizing the same areas with assistance (people power and dollars.) And the influence of development within watersheds must be addressed.
All the dredged and channelized ditches in Indiana’s vast farming areas are major contributers to this problem. Too many wetlands ‘drained’, too many streams straightened, too many woodlands cut down. All of these things mean water gets to the river faster, and that means faster, higher, meaner floods. We’re in a wet cycle too, but we can’t control that. The first thing that needs to be done is serious reform of Indiana’s antiquated ‘drainage code’.