Published: June 07, 2008 11:57 pm         

Federal, state, local officials begin assessing damage

TERRE HAUTE — Federal, state and local officials assessed area flood damage from the air and ground Saturday – a first step in securing state or federal disaster relief for Vigo and surrounding counties.

“This is bad,” said Dorene Hojnicki, director of the Vigo County Emergency Management Agency. The flooding has been “pretty devastating,” she said.

An official with the Federal Emergency Management Agency joined Hojnicki and the executive director of the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, Joe Wainscott, Saturday evening outside Honey Creek Middle School.

“What struck me was how wide spread this flash flooding was and the scope of it,” Wainscott said. “I don’t know that I remember anything as wide spread as what I’ve seen.”

The first step in getting federal assistance after a disaster is for local emergency officials to assess the damage, said Mike Smith, a federal coordinating officer with FEMA. Local officials feed their assessments to state officials who can then request federal aid, he said.

Local rescue workers were planning to continue evacuating people Saturday from flooded areas and levies until shortly before sundown, Hojnicki said, adding that water rescues are unsafe after dark. Evacuees were being taken to Terre Haute North Vigo High School, she noted.

“We saw flood waters that were extensive,” FEMA’s Smith said. In some cases, flood waters around river basins were a mile wide, he said. Several Hoosier towns have been “inundated,” large areas of agricultural land is flood-damaged and rail service in some areas will be disrupted, Smith said.

Local emergency responders have “done a tremendous job all across the state,” Wainscott said. The state’s role is to aid communities that have exhausted local resources, he said, adding that the National Guard has been used to help with sandbagging in Vigo County.

Vigo County is one of the 10 most affected counties in the state, Wainscott noted. Morgan County, southwest of Indianapolis, may be the most widely affected county, he said.

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.