Floodwater closes beach at southern Indiana's Patoka Lake

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Floodwater is swallowing up beaches and parking lots at Patoka Lake in southern Indiana.

Wildlife experts at the park said the lake water is 12 feet above normal.

“Our normal summer pool out here is 536 feet, so I believe that’s 12 feet over what we would normally have during the summer,” Patoka Lake Wildlife Biologist Brian Finch said.

Water is spilling over the beaches and parking lots, causing park officials to close the beach to visitors. Attendance at the park is suffering, and with more rain on the way, there’s a good chance the beach will remain closed for most of the summer.

“We come here on our summer vacation every year,” Maysen Reeves said. “It's usually sandy. There's always some grass, and there's usually a bit more of a parking lot.”

“It's a lot of water,” park visitor Kristi Nord added. "It's just one less super fun thing to do right now."

Water covers the beach and a parking lot at Patoka Lake.

Boats are still allowed on the lake, which is good news to the local general store, Patoka Station. The general store relies on boat traffic.

“Boats really can't get under any of the bridges right now,” Finch said. “The water is so high.”

Boats are asked to be cautious of debris in the water, and drivers on the roads around the lake are asked to be cautious of road closures. Part of State Road 64 is closed. The water got so high that it washed out the road from one side to the other.

Flooding lead to highway collapse near Patoka Lake.

Park officials at Patoka Lake said the high water shouldn’t affect the regularly scheduled events. Thunder over Patoka on Independence Day is still on.

“What it will change is our parking operation,” Finch said. “We can't have anyone park by the water or anything like that.”