Hoosiers prepare for wet Labor Day weekend


Rain moved through Indiana, Saturday, and Hoosiers were ready for any scenario.

Christine Hunt was not sure how her Saturday would turn out.  She lives on Winston Drive in the northeast part of town.  "I expected it to be way more then what it is now," Hunt said.

Hunt expected more rain, which is why her husband, Aaron, sat in line for more than three hours, Friday, for sandbags.  He waited like many others for sandbags, which were handed out at the DPW Garage downtown.  On Friday,  Aaron Hunt said, "it's a creek nearby and water backs up.  Yeah, and it gets into my crawl space and I'm trying to keep it from getting under the cross space".

The Hunt's neighbor, Jerry Johnson, has lived next door for six months.  He lives on a hill, which Aaron Hunt said causes some problems for them.  "When it pours down rain and it floods and it usually runs down in the crawl space," Christine Hunt said. 

"Fortunately, I'm up a little bit higher.  Unfortunately the Hunts, they catch it.  So, that's why he (Aaron Hunt) got these sandbags," Jerry Johnson said.

Some people thought the city was going to handout more sandbags on Saturday.  Several people drove to DPW's Garage, which is located at 1725 S West Street, hoping to pick them up.  Henry Hall wanted to make sure he was ready for any amount of rain.  "Well, I'm trying to get sandbags to keep my garage from flooding, but I see they're not open," Hall stated.  City leaders told FOX 59, Friday, they did not have any plans to continue handing sandbags on Saturday -unless the system changed its track.

Meanwhile, at Sullivan Hardware and Garden, located at 6955 North Keystone Avenue, some of their shelves were emptied because people bought supplies before rain rolled in.

"Probably from Thursday, when the weather report came out that we were going to get a lot of rain (that is when we saw a spike).  Then, people came in getting anything from gutter extensions -things to get the water away from the foundation of the house," Andrew Sullivan with Sullivan Hardware and Garden said.

Andrew Sullivan said people bought rain gauges too.  People were looking for sandbags as well.  "You always see it.  It happens every time this kind of weather comes about," Andrew Sullivan said.  He said they plan to purchase more of those items (gutter extensions and rain gauges) in order for them to be available for their customers.  "We'll probably miss most of the weather, but I mean we'll definitely get them just in case.  We usually have them, but we sold through them so quickly.  If this comes up again, we'll be more ready," Andrew Sullivan said.

Regardless of rain, Jerry Johnson said he planned to enjoy his Labor Day weekend.  "Because the weather changes, oh I just made my plans accordingly.  I just started earlier," he said.  Johnson started cooking earlier because he knew there was a chance it would rain.  He said he was also celebrating his 43rd birthday and 16th wedding anniversary.

"Got it done.  Got it out of my way.  Then, just will sit back and watch the rain," Johnson smiled.

Featured Stories



Top Trending Videos