New Castle mayor urges residents to stay inside as flooding hits region

NEW CASTLE, Ind. (WISH) — Officials in Henry County are asking residents not to travel unless absolutely necessary after massive flooding hit the region Wednesday.

In a Facebook post, Henry County Emergency Management said it has extended its travel restriction warning to 5:00 am EST Thursday.

“Please refrain from travel unless you are heading home from work or if you have an emergency,” the post said. It came after an initial travel warning came earlier in the day.

“Stay inside,” said New Castle Mayor Greg York. “There’s no reason to be outside right now. You don’t need to go shopping… Hunker down, stay in.”

Traveling throughout the county was difficult on Wednesday after storms created flooding across numerous roads.

“It has really not let up much all day today,” York said.

“We’ve had to make multiple water rescues of individuals attempting to drive through flooded roadways, stalling out and permanently damaging a lot of their vehicles,” New Castle Assistant Police Chief Justin Wardlow said.

He added that while several residents have called police to ask to be evacuated from their homes, the safest place to be is actually inside your home. If water enters your home, he says to seek higher ground. If that is not possible, then call police to help with being evacuated.