White River Campground evacuated as river nearly doubles in size

CICERO, Ind. (WISH) — Officials evacuated White River Campground as rising floodwaters caused the river to nearly double in size.

Chris Stice, Hamilton County director of parks and recreation, said river levels are normally about 4 feet. The river reached 10 feet Wednesday and is projected to rise to 20 feet Friday.

“The levels will peak Friday even though it might be sunny out, but conditions for White River is unsafe and not enabling us to open,” Stice said.

Hamilton County cleared 100 campsites as a precaution. Officials said the evacuation took a few hours; by 5 p.m. Wednesday, the grounds were empty, and the gates were closed.

“We will work tirelessly to get our facilities back and open for our community and provide a safe place for them to enjoy the campground,” Stice said.

The river continues to rise even though the rain stopped. The water has already broken through several concrete barriers.

Park officials warned that dangers remain. “It is highly dangerous water with the volume of water and that’s going through the white river and we invite people to use caution to stay out of the water at this time,” Stice said.