MADISON, Ind. (WDRB) -- Heavy rain washed away cars and ruined homes over the weekend in Madison, and the flood damage clean-up continues.
Jane Lorenz's property on Walnut Street still wreaks of mold and wood rot days later. Her home was flooded significantly in 2015 and again during the heavy rainfall that started late Friday night and into early Saturday morning.
"Well right now, it's really hard for me to focus," Lorenz said while gutting her home and throwing out dry wall and molded flooring. "It's overwhelming."
Lorenz said she was at her other property six blocks away, and the power went out. The same went for about 1,000 households in Madison at the time.
She said her husband broke the news over text while sitting in his recliner as floodwaters seeped through the front door.
"He texted me and said — in capitalize — I'm in a flood,” Lorenz said.
Madison, Ind. local American Red Cross assisting in flood damage relief.
She said the water got as high as her kitchen table.
"We also lost a vehicle then,” Lorenz referring back to 2015’s flood. “I lost all my appliances this time."
It is the same story for many of her neighbors. The American Red Cross, local churches and Madison leaders stepped up to help the more than 30 residents who evacuated and came back to wrecked homes.
"The damage has been enormous," Madison Mayor Bob Courtney said.
With dozens of properties devastated, he said this is the most extensive isolated flooding he is seen in the city since 2015.
"It really started miles from downtown Madison, but because this is the lowest part of that tributary and the lowest lying areas in the city of Madison, this area — which is really a lot of 19th-century historic homes — was devastated," he said.
Madison Mayor Bob Courtney evaluating the devastation left behind on Walnut St. from this past weekends flooding.
Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency Director Troy Morgan said the heavy rainfall was spread across the city, including downtown Madison. Mobile home properties and cemeteries were impacted. Walnut Street, which is in a low-lying area, saw 6-9 inches of floodwaters.
Courtney is asking everyone with damage to report here or by calling 211.
"We are now moving into the recovery stage, which is helping all the property owners here understand what financial systems would be available to them," he said.
Courtney will also hold a special meeting Monday after a damage assessment.
"We're going to be reaching out to every property owner," he said.
Lorenz plans to attend.
"It's a good feeling to see people helping people," she said.
While owners are still gutting their homes here in Madison, they hope that receive relief soon after the meeting, if not before.
Copyright 2021 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
