The Worthington Times

We added more pictures into the Great Flood of 2008 gallery over the weekend and will add more in the coming days. Still to come: pictures from each day, the Blackhawk landing at the school, the Pamida truck arrival with emergency supplies, the clinics for tetanus shots, the Governor landing for a walk around town and some people pictures.

If you'd like to do something to help Worthington's flood victims, but don't know what to do - a special account was opened today up at the First Financial Bank in Worthington, Indiana to accept donations to benefit victims in the Worthington area.

Anyone who would like to contribute can make a deposit into the Town of Worthington-Flood Victims account. Just ask anyone up at the bank and they'll know what to do.

For more information, contact Kathy Stahl at 875-2736, or Town Clerk-Treasurer Gloria Klass in the Muncipal Building at 875-2641 or Town Council Member Debbie Dyer at Select Insurance at 875-2369.

Thought you out-of-towners might want to see what the mighty, mighty Eel River can do... 

This is a quickie post - just got home from work and I'm trying to make it to another meeting. But I know a lot of people from out of town are checking this site as well as the GCDW and I have some interesting pics that aren't up anywhere yet. Time only permits me to post just three right now in a part of the Great Flood of 2008 Gallery called The Mighty Eel. I'll post the rest later tonight.

Highway 67 opened yesterday. This morning was the first time I'd driven down it and got a chance to see the railroad track. A lot of people are talking about this - it's quite a sight. It makes you just say a big "wow." The track is literally destroyed. It's hard to imagine. We've never seen anything like it. The three pics that I got uploaded are of small spots - there are numerous spots like this all the way to the flasher light and many are much larger than these. 

The Greene County Health Department will return to Worthington to offer another round of free tetanus shots to anyone who has come into contact with the floodwaters and has not had their tetanus protection updated recently. The shots will be given Wednesday evening, June 11, from 5-8 p.m.

The water is going down. By noon Tuesday, all are in agreement that the floodwater is receding. It's down by a significant amount but there's a long ways to go. At least we can see it is getting better. What a mess it's leaving behind.

No roads have opened up yet. State Road 67 to the south is still covered with water as far as the eye can see and the barricade remains just south of the Dollar General Store. State Road 157 to the north is still closed but the fence posts which were barely visible yesterday are showing about a foot now. Water has gone down on State Road 157 - the hill road by the Pryor bridge but it has a long way to go - it now looks like a big flood instead of an unbelievable flood. Terre Haute Road to the west is still closed. Still today the only road open out of town is State Road 67 toward Spencer. 

The Worthington Town Council will meet tonight (Tuesday) as planned for their regularly scheduled monthly meeting in the Town Hall of the Municipal Building. The Utility Department portion of the meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. and the Council part starts at 7 p.m. The Great Flood of 2008 is sure to be at the top of the agenda. Both meetings are open to the public. 

Free tetanus shots will be available in the Town Hall of the Worthington Municipal Building starting at 1:30 p.m. today - Tuesday. Policemen and firefighters were attempting to spread the word through the streets late Tuesday morning. Deputy Marshal Don Richardson said anyone who has been in contact with the floodwater should be first in line. I don't know who is giving the shots or how long this will be going on. I just know it's happening.

On old Worthington patrol car has been donated to the Greene County Sheriff's Department Reserves.

Another patrol vehicle to help keep the county's reserve force on the road should be welcomed at the Sheriff's Department where Greene County Sheriff Terry Pierce has said it's difficult to keep their fleet running on a tight budget.

At the April meeting of the Worthington Town Council, Worthington Town Marshal Dennis Conaway said the Sheriff's Reserves help the Worthington Police Department out a lot and he asked the council members to consider giving the car to the reserve force now that the Worthington Police Department has a new car in service.

The car, originally a gift to the WPD by an anonymous donor, is a 1999 Crown Victoria.  

Councilman Malcolm Stahl made the motion to give the vehicle to the reserves and it was approved unanimously.

Conaway said the car would be delivered immediately - hopefully later that same evening.

Worthington-Jefferson Township Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief Michael McCafferty  gave the following activity (for the preceding month) report for the WJVFD to the Town Council at their regular monthly meeting in April: 18 fire and EMS runs, one of which was for a fire.

McCafferty said a first responder class is currently in progress and some local firefighters are enrolled.

"We've been pretty short on manpower during the daytime, but we have three from the WJVFD taking the class," said McCafferty.

McCafferty said he's looking forward to them completing their training so more personnel will be available to make runs during the day when several WJVFD firefighters are at work and out of town.  

Worthington Town Marshal D. W. Conaway gave the following activity (for the preceding month) report for the Worthington Police Department to the Town Council at their regular monthly meeting in April: two charges of intimidation, two incidents of battery with injury, one incident of criminal mischief, one incident of public intoxication, one incident of operating a vehicle while intoxicated, one warrant served, one incident of theft of fuel - drive-off, and one incident involving breaking and entering and resisting law enforcement. Nine uniform traffic citations were issued. Officers completed 28 man-hours of training.