The whole region was drenched over the weekend, and emergency crews and public officials spent Sunday responding to the damage. The following is a roundup of the flooding and cleanup.
CALUMET CITY
Homes on Calumet City's south side were voluntarily evacuated Sunday after the Little Calumet River pushed through its levee.
Some residents chose to leave after the city used an automated phone system to spread word of the evacuation from River Oaks Mobile Estates, 2025 Dolton Road, and part of the city's south side, said city spokesman Eric Schneider.
"It was a small number," Schneider said.
The city offered shelter at Thornton Fractional North High School, 755 Pulaski Road.
Mayor Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush declared a state of disaster.
LANSING
Lansing police were suggesting evacuation Sunday for residents living near the Little Calumet River on the north end of town and those living near Thorn Creek on the south end.
An evacuation center was set up at the Eisenhower Center at 178th Street and Oakley Avenue, Detective Lt. Dan Sylvester said.
Sylvester asked drivers to stay off Burnham and Wentworth avenues, Interstate 80 and Ridge Road.
PORTER COUNTY
Rain in Porter County flooded streets and forced the closure of many roads, said Fred Martin, of Porter County Emergency Management.
Fairgrounds Park in Valparaiso and the Washington Township Elementary School schoolyard were reported flooded, and standing water -- particularly in the northern part of the county -- made travel difficult, Martin said.
"If people don't have to drive, stay home," Martin said.
Eastbound U.S. 30 between Ind. 2 and Sturdy Road was closed, Valparaiso police said about 7 p.m. Sunday.
Many streams and tributaries were full, and the Kankakee River was expected to rise, Martin said. Flooding from the Kankakee River is probable in coming days, he said.
Widespread home basement flooding also was reported, Martin said.
Porter County Emergency Management had a limited supply of sandbags available at its facility at 1955 S. Ind. 2 and was requesting more sand from the state, Martin said. The county also requested more road barricades, he said.
Portage Police Department spokesman Sgt. Keith Hughes said no injuries or evacuations because of the storm had been reported Sunday evening.
Police were advising motorists not to attempt to drive around closed-road barricades.
HOBART
Hobart Mayor Brian Snedecor on Sunday issued a disaster declaration. He said just about every bridge in the city was underwater, and nearly every main thoroughfare was closed in low-lying areas.
"We've closed Old Ridge Road near Festival Park," he said. "Third Street is closed. We had a washout of at least a 20-foot section of 73rd Avenue near DeKalb Street on Saturday."
Snedecor said a considerable number of homes took on water, but the evacuations weren't necessary.
"We will be opening fire stations and working with a couple of hotels in town as emergency shelters if that becomes an issue," he said. "The city has responded well. A lot of residents are helping one another. We believe the lake will drop once the rain stops and tributaries feeding into it go down."
MERRILLVILLE
Merrillville Town Council President Ron Widing said Sunday he had called the National Guard for help because Police and Fire department personnel were overwhelmed.
"They have evacuated at least 25 people out of Country Club Heights, but some not everyone," he said. "I was trying to convince a senior in Country Club Heights to leave, and she doesn't want to."
Some of the 100 residents in the Broadfield subdivision, northeast of 93rd Avenue and Broadway, were evacuated, Widing said.
Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub, D-Schererville, said the county's Public Works Department had been pumping water from that area since early Saturday.
Water was cresting at Broadway south of Broadfield.
"Turkey Creek is over the road on 61st Avenue," Widing said. "We've closed that road."
Town workers also were evacuating homeowners from the area of 54th and Grant streets in North Merrillville, Widing said.
CROWN POINT
Crown Point Director of Public Works Jay Olson said there were no evacuations and only a handful of road closures Sunday, despite more than 9 inches of rainfall during the weekend.
Motorists were advised Sunday to avoid East Summit Street, Iowa Street south of 113th Avenue, Lake Street and Greenwood Avenue, Olson said. Some cars drove around barricades and got stuck, he said.
LOWELL
Lowell Town Councilman Shane Tucker said town workers and volunteers laid down sandbags Sunday and evacuated at least one home near Cedar Creek on Halsted Street and Grant Street and Holtz Road east of town.
"We have had around 100 volunteers from inside and outside town who have come out, shoveling sand into bags and volunteering equipment," Tucker said. "The boys from the Lowell football team have come out. People are really stepping up."
DYER
St. Margaret Mercy Healthcare Centers in Dyer, which was closed for months and sustained $37 million in damage from a 2007 storm, was not in imminent danger of flooding Sunday night, said Town Manager Joe Neeb.
However, homes behind the hospital that also were damaged in last year's storm flooded.
LAKES OF THE FOUR SEASONS
High water closed roads and flooded basements around Sunnyslope and Four Seasons Parkway, as well as Rustic Lane and Windy Hill Road.
"We have every pump out," Lake County Commissioner Gerry Scheub, D-Schererville, said Sunday afternoon. "We have every road closure sign out. We have every sandbag out. It's tough. It's the worst I've seen."
RURAL LAKE COUNTY
Scheub said the county Public Works Department had been pumping out basements and setting out sandbags since dawn Saturday in Schererville Heights, an unincorporated subdivision south of the town of Schererville.
The Kankakee River at Shelby measured 11.74 feet at 8:45 p.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service Web site. Flood stage is 9 feet.
Scheub said he visited the Wildwood and Shady Shores subdivisions on the river's northern banks about noon Sunday.
"Their problems will lie Monday and Tuesday, when all this water gets down there," he said.
MUNSTER/HAMMOND
Indiana National Guard members made a beeline for Munster when they arrived in Northwest Indiana late Sunday afternoon to rescue patients Munster Med-Inn.
Munster was the town most seriously affected by Sunday's flooding, with a number of neighborhoods evacuated along the Little Calumet River.
All Munster schools canceled classes for Monday, and all school activities including sports were canceled.
Town officials kept adding to their list of flood evacuation orders and advisories throughout the day, as the Little Calumet River overflowed its banks at several points.
A mandatory evacuation was ordered at 9 a.m. due to a levee breach for all homes between the Little Calumet and Broadmoor Avenue in an area stretching from Calumet Avenue east to White Oak Avenue. By 6 p.m., the mandatory evacuation area stretched west to Jackson Avenue.
The Indiana Department of Natural Resources evacuated some residents by boat.
A recommended evacuation was issued from Broadmoor Avenue south to Ridgeway Avenue in the area stretching from Calumet Avenue east to White Oak in the morning. At night, the advisory was extended to the town's northeast corner at Hawthorne Drive.
All day Sunday, town workers and volunteers sandbagged in the area of the Northcote Avenue bridge. On the other side of the bridge, Hammond had begun evacuating residents Saturday night.
Two Hammond neighborhoods still were under flood evacuation advisories Sunday night, Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said.
Those were the Schleicer and Southmoor subdivisions, which sit along the Little Calumet River just north of Munster.
NORTHWEST INDIANA
NIPSCO crews were busy responding to municipalities calling for the shut-off of gas and electric service in areas subject to severe flooding Sunday, according to NIPSCO spokesman Larry Graham.
There were also some scattered outages in Hammond and Gary, with 450 customers without power in Hammond overnight Saturday.
The Hammond outage was caused by the collapse of the Bolero bowling alley building in the 6500 block of Calumet Avenue due to the weight of water on the roof, McDermott said. NIPSCO crews had shut off power from Northcote Avenue to Columbia Avenue in Hammond, one of the areas most severely affected by flooding, Graham said.
Power also was shut off in Gary and Lake Station in the area of Utah and Arizona streets and 29th Avenue, Graham said.
"We are working with municipalities if they have concerns about flooding and need electric service or gas turned off," Graham said. "That will be an ongoing concern."
There also were reports of outages in Valparaiso on Saturday night.
