Disaster Area

NASHVILLE, Ind. – Thirty minutes was all it took for Debbie Guffey’s family business to go under water.\n“I’ve seen it (to the grass),” Guffey said. “But never, never to the windows of the shop.”\nSevere storms that moved through south central Indiana Friday night and Saturday morning dumped about 10 inches of water in the area, according to the National Weather Service, putting homes and businesses like Guffey’s Brown County Tire and Auto Service in Nashville, Ind. in dire straights.\nBy Sunday afternoon, most of the water that had damaged the garage belonging to Guffey and her husband had receded, but reminders of the destruction it caused remained. An oil drum that had been stored inside the building was tipped over in the course of the flood, coating everything on the premises with a fine layer of used oil. The water line reached to the windows of the garage bay doors, and almost a foot of standing water remained in what used to be the driveway to the garage.\n“I’ve never been through anything like this,” Guffey said. “I don’t know what kind of steps there are.”\nThe extent of the damage was still being determined as Guffey walked through the premises in a stunned daze. \n“We have insurance, but is it gonna do this?” she said. “Our business is probably going to be closed down for awhile.”\nIndiana Conservation Officer Jeff Atwood was on duty all day Saturday aiding flood victims in the Brown County area and stopped by Guffey’s business Sunday afternoon to see the damage. \n“This is a family business and they’ve got six foot of water in their shop, and they’re due to open tomorrow,” Atwood said. “They employ mechanics here that have families that depend on the work here, and there’s not gonna be any work tomorrow ... because they have to clean up and take everything out. It’s just a mess.”\nBusiness owners aren’t the only ones affected. Farmers are feeling the crunch from the high amount of rainfall, and according to Atwood (who owns his own farm in southern Monroe County) its reaching a “critical time” in the season where it may be too late to replant crops.\n“I think you’re gonna see an increase in costs on not only crop harvests and sales but an increase in ethanol prices,” he said. “They still have an effect on the markets in the United States and the world.”\nWorkers like Atwood have dedicated their entire weekend to clean up due to flood damage. Kevin Harrison of the Johnson County Highway Department had been out from 6 a.m. Saturday until 11 p.m. that night, and was back on the job at 8 a.m. Sunday morning assessing damage to bridges and other structures in the area. \n“With five, six, seven (structures) to do, it’ll be awhile,” he said of the amount of time needed to repair damaged areas in his jurisdiction. \nSince Saturday, 22 counties in Indiana have declared states of emergency, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Multiple roads, including portions of I-65 and Indiana 37, were closed due to high water, making travel difficult.\nDespite the extreme hardships now brought to the people affected by the spring storms, Atwood cites the determination of the rural citizens as the biggest tool in getting through these challenges.\n“The people here will get through it, the problem is its gonna take some time to recover,” he said. “The resources that are available to these people here are utilized to their fullest extent, but in a situation like this the resources are not enough and they’re never enough.\n“It’s a way of life. You deal with the things that are thrown at you. It’s not easy but that’s the way they’ve always lived and that’s the way they’ll continue to live.”