Highwater in Indy: A flood of incompetence and vacuum of leadership

If only they'd known water is wet.

Last week “100, 500, and 1000 year storms” batter central Indiana causing catastrophic flooding to towns and cities on the White River upstream of Indianapolis not seen since the Great Flood of 1913. Wednesday morning to Friday afternoon, city after city and town after town within 65 miles end up underwater while Indianapolis officials do and say nothing to mobilize the community to protect itself and each other from historic flooding on the way.

The Timeline

The Great Flood of 1913

• March of 1913 storms brought catastrophic flooding to Indiana, Ohio and 11 other states leaving 650 dead and a quarter of a million people homeless. In Indianapolis, 7000 families lost their homes and key bridges on main thoroughfares were swept into the waters. Many lives were saved because the National Weather Bureau sent out strong warnings allowing families enough time to gather their belongings and evacuate to higher ground. Federal legislation in the aftermath fundamentally changes flood prevention projects and mandates in the United States.

  

  Credit: Indiana Historical Society

  Credit: Indiana Historical Society

Wednesday August 12th 2026 - The Water is 61 miles away

• Storms bring high winds and torrential rain to Central and East Indiana. Indianapolis experiences localized stormwater flooding in some areas

• 61 miles away, Muncie, Indiana begins evacuations at 9:50am due to flooding and the city provides sandbags to support its residents’ efforts to protect savable areas.

That afternoon the Mayor of Muncie addresses his community alerting them that the storms have dumped more rain than the Great Flood of 1913, the county declares a flood emergency.

Flooded out towns and dramatic water rescues in boats are shown on the local news in Indianapolis.

• Both Hamilton County and Anderson, Indiana warn its residents about likely flooding and provide sandbags.

Thursday August 13th 2026 - The Water is 30 miles away

• At noon, 30 miles away, The town of Pendleton declares a state of emergency

• Yorktown, Indiana is underwater as the water continues to rise.

• 40 miles away, the Mayor of Anderson declares a state of emergency around 1pm and orders evacuations by 6pm.

• Flooded out towns and dramatic water rescues close to Indianapolis are shown to America on the national news.

Friday August 14th 2026 - The Water is here and is overtopping a dam

• 8:30 am - Hamilton County (11 - 22 miles away) declares a state of emergency

• 2:40 pm - The White River overtopping the dam at Westfield Blvd finally catches the attention of the mayor, unfortunately it’s not Joe Hogsett, it’s community activist Anderson York known as “the Mayor of 46th street”.

• 6 pm -Finally Ravenswood, Rocky Ripple, Nora and “Historically Flood-Prone areas put on alert by City of Indianapolis/ Indy DPW

• 8:21 pm - North Broad Ripple given only 69 minutes to evacuate via social media so IndyDPW can close the floodgates, trapping vehicles or anyone with mobility issues behind the wall. The floodgate actually closes after 11:30pm, likely because few saw the info online.

• 8:28 pm - Rocky Ripple (an included town surrounded by Indianapolis) has been advised by Indy DPW to stop making sandbags and evacuate. They ignore them and continue the fight to save their town.

• 9:57pm Marion County Emergency Management gives out bad shelter info and has to retract 1 of the 2 shelters posted for evacuation.

  

  Credit: Anderson York

Saturday August 15th 2026 - Indianapolis is flooding

• 1:40am - Ravenswood is told to evacuate and it floods, floodgates/bridges in Rocky Ripple are closed by DPW a few hours later.

• 11:30am - Mayor Hogsett finally addresses the city

  

An awesome responsibility

To be clear the mayor of Indianapolis has an awesome responsibility, not only is he mayor of Indianapolis but he is county executor responsible for all the other included and excluded towns and cities in Marion county along with Indianapolis. Two of those duties are being public safety director over emergency services for Marion County and overseeing the department of works that manages the 37+ miles of levees, 2 dams, 1,500 miles of storm piping and 100,000+ valves, inlets and outlets that protect the city from stormwater and river flooding. After watching for 48 hours + as city after city and town after town in the Indy metro area fell to flood waters higher than the Great Flood of 1913 many in his position would have had the city services and community mobilized for action. That did not happen and according to multiple sources familiar with the operations of city departments, that even through the business day on Friday, Indy DPW did not prepare to protect the city from a flood. Most communication to the community was done via social media and at the last minute, door to door.

In ‘defense’ of Mayor Hogsett and his command staff it has been a grueling couple of weeks dealing with severe weather that’s become the new normal because of climate change and the resulting complaints from Eastside and Broad Ripple residents with serious stormwater issues. Then there’s Mayor Hogsett’s fight to keep wheel tax at its 1990s level and take money from the stormwater fund to help pay for the road repair funding. Yes you read it right, as multiple Indianapolis neighborhoods on the east and north side complained about stormwater flooding the past month, Mayor Hogsett planned to divert stormwater revenue to help pay for a road repair match instead even though there’s a substantial back log of stormwater projects. But Indy city council refused to let him do it and overrode his veto handing him his first big defeat in city government. After the defeat, Hogsett and much of his senior staff were seen preparing proclamations, having retirement parties for colleagues and a night on the town vs the vigilance needed to combat a historic flood of epic proportions. The tale that Nero watched Rome burn while playing a fiddle is a historical myth that emerged because of Rome’s inadequate preparedness for a fire. But today thanks to social media there’s a clear record of all the fun our city’s leadership was having together last Friday as floodwaters were overtopping dams in Indianapolis. Our city and county deserves better. Some of the community had already mobilized to support each other when the crisis was finally acknowledged and places like Rocky Ripple worked together through the night with outsiders to save their town with 15,000 sandbags. We also caught an unexpected break when White River eroded its way into a quarry in Carmel, Indiana diverting 9 billion gallons of water from crashing into overstressed Indianapolis’ levees and flood control infrastructure.

Better Planning, More Vigilance

For the long term Indianapolis has to stop subsidizing low density sprawl and make a point of supporting dense neighborhoods protected by wetlands. We have to get serious about investing in stormwater infrastructure and flood infrastructure. Increased precipitation in Indiana and intense storms like the one that somehow dumped water directly on to GenCon attendees inside the Indiana Convention center this month are the new normal. According to the 2022 Indiana Climate Change Impacts Assessment published through Purdue University we will see increased flooding risks that overload combined stormwater and sewer systems. The Great Flood of 1913 fundamentally changed America forever and also Indianapolis. We now have a system of levees, dams, and stormwater piping that stretch across the county that is too complicated for the community to understand but too vast for one expert to monitor alone. In a county of 1 million people protected by levees and floodgates designed to blend in, most residents have never consciously seen the infrastructure protecting them. Having a responsive local leadership to inform them in times of crisis so they can make decisions for their families and communities is critical to avoid a greater tragedy. Our local news media must do a better job reporting on our infrastructure challenges and what these budget proposals really mean for the long term and short term health and safety of Indianapolis, beyond the campaign rhetoric.

And we as a community must elect leadership that loves this city and sees the value in working alongside our communities in times of disaster and in times of abundance.