This week's storms pushed White River floodwater hard against Rocky Ripple's aging levee, leaving the Indiana town perilously close to catastrophe.
Residents say major flooding was avoided only after a vast volunteer sandbagging effort added a few crucial inches to the barrier.
Here's what to know
With the White River climbing during severe flooding in central Indiana, about 1,000 volunteers spent more than two days reinforcing Rocky Ripple's levee with sandbags, according to the IndyStar.
Town council president Randy Sanders said nearly 15,000 bags were placed. The first sand came from deliveries by the Indianapolis Department of Public Works. Once that supply was exhausted, volunteers kept filling bags by taking sand from the volleyball court at Hohlt Park.
A homemade gauge near Rocky Ripple Town Hall showed the river at about 17 feet above its normal level. As the water rose, residents worried the levee did not stand high enough to stop what was coming.
Homeowner Margaret Brabant said the river had climbed to the very top of the added protection. "That water was up to the top of those sandbags last night," Brabant said. "It rose higher than the levee could protect."
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More background
The levee was built to protect Rocky Ripple from major floods, but people in town say concerns about it have existed for years, the IndyStar reported.
Brabant, who has lived on the riverfront since 1992, offered a blunt assessment of the barrier: "It's not exceptionally tall, it's not exceptionally strong, and it's been battered and abused by the likes of groundhogs and over-eager developers."
By Sunday, residents were not yet treating the danger as over. A few inches of water still covered some streets, while volunteers kept working on soaked roads, homes, and spots along the levee where seepage was a problem.
What's being done?
What started with Sanders' Friday request for help turned into a major community operation, with residents and outsiders alike spending around-the-clock hours digging, filling, stacking, and hauling sandbags, according to the IndyStar.
After spending much of the weekend carrying sandbags, Indianapolis City-County Councilor John Barth said the volunteer response had made the difference, stating, "If the residents here and the town elected officials and all these volunteers hadn't fought like hell, this town would have been washed out."
Even after the water peaked, the work continued. On Sunday, volunteers were still checking for seepage and tending to waterlogged areas. The close call may add pressure to address the levee's condition more permanently.
"We're having to deal with this hour by hour right now," Sanders said.
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