With the prospect of Tropical Depression Bill swinging up across Indiana this weekend, farmers and some homeowners are keeping a wary eye on the sky. Across the northern third of the state, ditches are full, some fields have standing water and a few riverside homes are being sandbagged.
Several rivers in northern Indiana are flooding or in danger of flooding – the Tippecanoe, the Iroquois, the Wabash and in Sumava Resorts in Newton County, the Kankakee, where some residents were filling sandbags Wednesday.
“Last night we had tons of people from the communities that came out to help which is – we’re very grateful for that. And then also today, people have taken off work to come out and sandbag,” says Nikki Hanger, the Lake Township trustee. She says their deep concern is the levy won’t hold if the water gets much higher.
Purdue Professor of Agronomy Bob Nielsen says parts of the state have seen 10-12 inches of rain in the last week and farm fields with standing water are suffering.
“Unfortunately when you get to this point in the summer, with temperatures as warm as they are it doesn’t take but four days tops with standing water or saturated soils before significant root death begins to occur,” said Nielsen.
According to Nielsen, it’s getting to late to replant corn and with the current forecast of more rain through the weekend, farmers will be lucky to have fields dry out in time to get soybeans – a crop with a shorter growing season - planted.