Northwest Indiana flooding carries $4 million pricetag

After 33 days of high wind speeds that caused damage to hundreds of homes, as well as overflowing sewers, Gov. Mitch Daniels applied Friday to receive federal emergency funding for Northwest Indiana. It could take millions to repair the damage, he said.\n“I request that you declare a major disaster for the state of Indiana as a result of severe storms, damaging winds, hail, tornadoes and flooding that occurred in Lake County as well as other portions of Northern Indiana beginning on July 26, 2007, and continuing to August 27, 2007,” Daniels wrote in his request, citing the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act. \nDamage estimates in Lake County, the second most populated county in Indiana, could be as much as $4 million, according to the governor’s letter. \nEight towns in Lake County were listed as needing the most help, including Highland, Dyer, Merrillville, Lake Station and Hammond. \n“I saw wind damage of what looked like a tornado touched down,” Geoffrey Kallimani said, an IU senior from the Gary area. \nWhile no tornadoes touched down, the American Red Cross reported that 58,000 homes in the Lake County area were affected. Thirty of those homes were declared destroyed and 1,927 had minor damages. \nEven for those like Kallimani, who only dealt with short power outages, the ensuing problems of flooded roadways and broken stoplights caused delays for travelers. \n“It was probably one of the biggest headaches I’ve ever been in,” Kallimani said of the traffic delays on Interstate 80/94 out of Chicago. \nFor others though, there were larger problems. Power was out in some areas for up to five days and flooding occurred in many places. The flooding became hazardous because sewers were backed up, allowing the contaminated water to leak into homes. The standing water also was a breeding ground for mosquitoes. \n“They built an elementary school near my house and they built it on a low lying area that used to be a marsh and I know they had a really hard time keeping all the water out of the basement,” Kallimani said. \nWater damage was not what most had to worry about though. Closer to home there was the severe wind damage done to homes. \n“There were a lot of trees down and there were some trees that fell on houses,” said IU senior Amy Goetz, who lives in Lake County. \nDaniels said the cost could be more than $4 million for programs such as building permanent housing. Most of the estimated costs will go to repairs, though $123,065 will go to temporary housing.