Johnson County residents deal with tornado debris in waterways 2 months after tornado

JOHNSON COUNTY – Nearly two months after a tornado ripped through Johnson County, waterways are still jammed with debris — Debris that could cause flooding if it isn’t cleared.

Johnson county homeowner Deborah Wilson is dealing with this issue on her property. They were able to clean part of the waterway on their property out but not all of it because they are still fixing up their home.

"We have some very large mature trees that are blocking and it could definitely lead to some major flooding and probably affect the road and everything it goes against as well,” Wilson said. “That could create you know more damage that could cause more problems."

Wilson and her family are still dealing with other problems from the tornado.

They are currently sleeping and mostly living out of their RV. The roof of Wilson and her family’s home was destroyed. Rain caused more damage to their home.

She says the creek in their backyard has been the least of their concerns.

"I think it just caught all of us off guard and then just with this being such a beautifully wooded area that we just lost a lot of trees,” Wilson said.

Johnson County EMA

The unincorporated parts of Johnson County, or the parts not in Bargersville or Greenwood, suffered $450,000 worth of damage.

That wasn’t enough to qualify for federal disaster relief dollars according to the Emergency Management director Stephanie Sichting.

She says if there was over $726,000 of uninsured damage the county would have qualified. Now, the county wants to make sure no more damage happens as a result.

"We've had issues with knowing there's trees in water ways behind homes” Sichting said. “We know it's there we just can't go on to those properties so the county is doing paperwork to the state and federal government to see if we can get some assistance. We just want to make sure that it does not impede any our drainage ditches or bridges or culverts."

For homeowners like Wilson, she hopes to be back living in their home before winter, without another natural disaster hindering her property's recovery.

"I think it's important to look at you know and check your waterways to make sure things are flowing smoothly and just to make sure that there is not going to excessive flooding, " Wilson said.

The Johnson County Emergency Management Agency is asking for property owners to let them know if they have debris in their waterways, that way they can figure out a way to help them clear it out.

The Johnson County EMA can be reached at 317-346-4655.