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Flash floods cause damage in Indianapolis

Sunday, 28 August 2016 6:36 AM [ Last Update: Sunday, 28 August 2016 7:08 AM ]

A police car and other vehicles plow through flood waters as a flash flood hits along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street in Indianapolis, August 26, 2016. (Indystar)

Flash floods have swept through the US city of Indianapolis, Indiana, damaging homes and causing citywide power outages.

A flood warning was issued for Marion County on Saturday, with officials saying more rain was expected to fall next week.

Heavy downpours transformed much of Indianapolis' streets into deep lakes for several hours on Friday evening, officials said.

"Any time we get a big rain like it does, it completely floods out to the point where this car was completely under water. The water was about three feet higher than what it is right now," resident Michael Cranfill told local media.

"Unfortunately, in some of these houses, literally the back doors are underwater and their basements are completely flooded."

Police have urged people to stay indoors and officers placed cones and barricades in high water areas.

A fast-moving storm rolls over Indianapolis on Friday, August 26, 2016. (Indystar)

A severe thunderstorm caused tornado on Friday morning, which downed trees and power lines across the city.

In the evening, downpour left cars stranded in roadways and parking lots and downed more power lines as one inch of rain fell in just 30 minutes.

Indianapolis Fire Department received 102 calls for emergency medical services, 15 calls for high water and 25 calls for downed power lines.

A tree is uprooted and landed on top of a home in the 6200 block of N. Meridian St. after a storm hit Indianapolis on August 26, 2016. (Indystar)

"I just drove through it in my car, stopped, and then it started swerving or whatever and water just filling up. So I had to kick my door and get out and swim away," said Haley Steele, a local resident.

"I had to kick it and kick it hard. The current is coming this way. Thank God I didn't have my daughter in the car, she's only one-and-a-half. She would've freaked out. I would've freaked out."

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