Evacuation notice issued for Shelbyville, Shelby County ahead of weekend flooding potential

SHELBY COUNTY, Ind. –An evacuation order has been placed for portions of Shelbyville and Shelby County ahead of expected flooding this weekend.

According to a joint news release from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, the Shelbyville Fire Department and the Shelby County Emergency Management Agency, the order is for “low-lying areas and areas prone to flooding” in the city of Shelbyville and Shelby County.

The order went into effect just after 1 p.m. on Friday. Officials are asking residents to leave their homes by this evening before more rain occurs.

Officials said this comes after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has forecasted major flooding this weekend, stating that “conditions are expected to worsen as the weekend progresses.”

Flood watches remain in effect for portions of Indiana through Sunday morning. According to previous reports, there are some flooding concerns after the grounds were saturated from Wednesday’s severe weather.

Officials said the evacuation areas are all low-lying and flood-prone areas within Shelbyville and Shelby County. The release said that residents in those areas are “strongly urged to evacuate immediately.”

“Those who refuse to leave may face law enforcement intervention to ensure their safety and to prevent risk to public health and safety,” the release said.

Shelby County police and fire officials went door to door Friday morning warning residents along Brandywine Creek they need to leave their homes as flood waters continue to quickly creep up.

“We’re sitting at 13 feet today. It’s expected to go up maybe six to eight feet. It becomes very dangerous life-threatening at times and if we can get people to leave that will keep us from coming down here in those dangerous situations,” said Shelby County Sheriff Louie Koch.

Koch said this area in Shelby County is particularly flood-prone and officials are going to three different neighborhoods and talking to multiple residents about the dangers of what could be on the way with days of rain in the forecast.

“It’s just education some people honestly if they get stubborn, they think they can be through because they went through little floods but when you get to these big floods, like I said it’s life-threatening,” Koch said.

The release said the Shelby County Water Rescue Team is on standby and prepared to assist with evacuations and rescues as necessary.

Deputy Chief Jay Tennell with the Shelby County Fire Department said that they have 20 team members and four boats that can be disseminated where it’s needed most.

As first responders are trying to get ahead of the storm, Shelby County EMA Director Denis Ratekin saidthe county has already filled more than 400 sand bags and have handed out about 100 of those. The county is expecting at least an additional six to eight inches of rain through Sunday.

“Do not drive through standing water. That’s our biggest concern. Yesterday we had someone drive around the county highway barricades and got into water and it took the car off the roadway and into the river and luckily the two people were able to get out of the river,” Ratekin said.