Published: July 11, 2008 12:06 pm         

Carroll County seeks to improve flood warnings

DELPHI (AP) — Carroll County officials are looking for funding to create a warning system to alert residents along the Tippecanoe River to flooding.

Winter flooding from the river north of Lafayette left many homes along its banks damaged and showed the need for a warning system, said Dave McDowell, director of the county’s emergency management agency.

He has proposed a system of sirens and telephone calls to alert residents to flooding. He also wants to provide every home near the river with a radio that receives alerts from the National Weather Service.

“What we want is a really good early warning system,” McDowell said. “If we wait for water to start flowing through the dam, it’s too late.”

The Northern Indiana Public Service Co., which operates the river’s Oakdale Dam at the southern end of Lake Freeman, has an automated phone system that calls residents along the river who have signed up for the service.

That system failed during last winter’s flooding, McDowell said.

The power company will assist the county in improving the warning system, NIPSCO spokesman Nick Meyer said.

The dam is designed for power generation, not flood control, Meyer said.

“Whatever amount of water comes in, goes through,” he said.

During the flooding in February, Carroll County sheriff’s deputies drove up and down roads along the river using sirens and announcements to urge residents to evacuate.