Flooding submerged Indiana neighborhoods for a second consecutive day on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, as the National Weather Service placed more than 36 million people across the Midwest under flood alerts and warned that Indianapolis faced the greatest storm threats expected to bring heavy rain through the rest of the week.
Midwest flooding enters second day; more than 36 million under flood alerts as storms continue
Flooding submerged Indiana neighborhoods for a second consecutive day on Thursday, Aug. 13, 2026, as the National Weather Service placed more than 36 million people across the Midwest under flood alerts and warned that Indianapolis faced the greatest storm threats expected to bring heavy rain through the rest of the week.
Since Monday, 277 flash flooding incidents have been reported across the Ohio Valley, according to CBS News meteorologist Nikki Nolan, as storms and tornadoes struck the region. Since Tuesday, officials have declared seven flash flood emergencies, and a quarter of a million people in Indiana and Illinois were without power on Thursday morning.
The National Weather Service forecast offices in Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Tennessee warned that rainfall across each state could be persistent and widespread, with some areas potentially receiving another 4 inches or more. Forecasters said the expected storms could also bring strong winds, large hail, and additional flash flooding.
In Cambridge City, Indiana, residents had to be rescued by boat after Wednesday's flooding left them stranded. Water rose several feet in the hardest-hit areas, seeping into homes and, in some cases, fully submerging parked cars. One man clung to a light pole amid swirling floodwater before being rescued. New Castle, Indiana, received more than 11 inches of rain in just over a day — a rainfall rate the source describes as having only a 1-in-1,000, or 0.1%, chance of occurring in any given year.
CBS News correspondent Meg Oliver reported encountering multiple washed-out roads and detours during a drive across Indiana on Wednesday that took five hours instead of the expected three. A section of Interstate 70 was partly shut down after it buckled under the rain. Cambridge City streets remained submerged or mud-covered on Thursday, Oliver said.
The flooding extended beyond Indiana: flash flooding reached Knoxville, Tennessee, on Wednesday, where fire trucks blocked off waterlogged streets. In Ohio, an earlier storm on Tuesday left damage that Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine described as 'historic.' Forecasters warned that rivers continued to swell Thursday in states already struck this week, with water levels potentially reaching points not seen in more than a century in some areas.
Flood warnings and watches for Des Moines, Louisville, and Nashville were not scheduled to lift before Friday, according to the source. The National Weather Service office in Jackson, Kentucky, issued an alert Thursday stating: 'Excessive runoff may result in flooding of creeks, streams, and other low lying and flood prone locations.' A flood watch for the Chicago area was set to take effect Thursday evening and last until Friday morning, according to CBS Chicago.
- The source does not state the total number of deaths or injuries caused by the storms and flooding.
- The source does not specify which records for daily rainfall totals were broken on Wednesday, nor the previous record figures.
- The source does not state the total number of people who required rescue by boat in Cambridge City or elsewhere.
- The source does not state the specific rivers at risk of reaching century-level flood stages, nor the locations where those levels could be reached.
- The source does not provide the current or projected water levels on swelling rivers relative to flood stage benchmarks.
- The source does not state the total estimated property damage caused by the flooding across the affected states.