Goshen flooding closes businesses, organizations give back

Goshen has lowered its travel warning now to a travel advisory, but there are still a lot of places around the area where you need to be careful.

One of the hardest hit areas in Goshen near Kroger is still waiting for flood waters to recede.

The Kroger has been closed indefinitely until they can clean up.

Right now the majority of the parking lot at the Trinity Square Plaza is under water. Near Kroger levels are nearly hip height.

A crew is working inside of the Kroger evaluating conditions and determining what has been lost. A Kroger spokesman said they must dispose of food that touched the flood water.

On the other hand, produce like bananas were untouched by waters but lack the shelf life to be transferred to another store. They plan on donating things like that to the local food bank once trucks can reach the store.

Outside of the store crews are figuring out the damage at the Kroger gas station. A spokesman said it should be open again by the end of next week.

As for prescriptions, they want to resume having a pharmacy immediately. Kroger plans to have a mobile pharmacy in place for Goshen customers by next week.

At least a dozen businesses at the plaza had water in and/or around them and will be cleaning up for days.

Thursday afternoon Pike St. was reopened after being closed Wednesday because the river had risen all the way out to cover it near the plaza.

Crews swept the street to remove debris.

"We had a street sweeper out before we opened the road as the flood carries with it a bunch of debris into the roads and we don't want to create hazards for the traffic so we swept it before we opened it," said David Gibbs, the Goshen Street Commissioner.

Pike St. is open now with a lane restriction. Gibbs said drivers should expect road closures in and around Goshen for the next few days.

Folks from Forge Industrial Staffing donated lunch to volunteers helping with the flood relief in Goshen.

They met at Grace Community Church, which is also serving as a shelter for people forced from their homes.

They brought in a variety of snacks including fruit and pizza as a way to say thank you for all of the help during this difficult time.

"We saw a need in the community to help out those in need so we wanted to be able to do something so we thought what better way to make people feel a little more normal than to provide some food and water and some snacks," said Nick Hajicek, manager of operations at Forge Industrial Staffing.

"Many of us have been touched in one way or another or know someone that's been touched by the floods that's happened so we just wanted to make sure we're doing our little part just to help," said Amanda Searer, a staffing consultant at Forge Industrial Staffing.

Grace Community Church can hold nearly 200 people or more if necessary for however long they need it.