UTICA, Ind. (WHAS11) -- The Ohio River continues to rise, its water spilling onto the roads and flooding the backyards and porches of homes along the river's banks.
The water continues to rise—flooding onto the roads and backyards along the river's banks.
"It's a good weather for ducks and unfortunately I'm not a duck," Barbara Tinnell said.
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"Next couple of days we'll see what happens," Glenn Murphy, an Old Utica resident and businessman, said. "Hopefully we're going to be smiling and not crying."
For many living in Old Utica along the river, Friday is moving day. People loaded up trailers, semis and trucks to move their belongings out of their homes before the floodwaters reach them.
"Two days ago, we thought we were going to be fine," Murphy said. "When they said it jumped from 32 to 34, all bets are off, sows started evacuating."
"I've never been through a serious flood so my aunt had to kind of help me with where the mark was for when it was time to leave versus you'll be all right," Old Utica resident Alex Blanton said.
Blanton has only lived in his family house for a few years, but he did visit family at this house in 1997 when he said the floodwaters were several feet high inside the home.
"It was a mess afterwards, a lot of debris," he said. "I was a kid so I don't remember it really well but just the first time I saw the house empty."
A mile away, Barbara Tinnell has been preparing for a father-daughter dance at Lakeside Reflections where she serves as the event director. She said the flooded roads could pose a problem for drivers, which would force them to take detours this weekend. As of Friday morning, several roads were already closed, including Utica Pike.
"Mother Nature is definitely a challenge for us especially when it rains but they should be able to get here just fine," Tinnell said.
The show will go on at Lakeside Reflections despite the weather, but back in Old Utica, the community is preparing to leave their homes, something they've grown accustomed to over the years, one of the hazards of having a view of the Ohio River from their backyard.
"Everybody usually has that backup on where you're going to go and have all that figured out before the season just in case," Blanton said.
"This is a great community," Murphy said. "Even in 1997 when everybody lost everything they have, they were still saying, 'What can I do to help you?' So, these are great people."
Murphy said the community will also come out and sandbag the roads with help from the sheriff's office and local inmates. He said while the sandbagging will not prevent the floodwaters from reaching the homes, it will give some of the residents up to an extra day to evacuate, which he said is well worth the work.
As the water levels continue to rise, these neighbors are leaving their homes preparing for the worst, but hoping to come back in a few days to find the best-case scenario.
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