Families displaced by historic flooding in southeast Indiana are finding support through a growing network of community resources in Connersville, as cleanup efforts are expected to stretch on for weeks.Inside Connersville's Bap tist Temple on Tuesday, volunteers were restocking donated items by the hour, turning the church into a flood relief distribution center open to anyone impacted by last week's flooding.Marla Steele, the city's park superintendent, is serving as coordinator of the distribution center. She said the center received three truckloads of supplies from Walmart and is continuing to receive donations from companies and businesses reaching out to ask what is needed."We have families that, most of them that have come in, live just here in the heart of Connorsville, where the devastation was," Steele said. "They're coming in because they've lost their homes."There are currently two distribution centers operating in Connersville. One is a drive-through operation at the Fayette County Fairgrounds on Park Road, run by the Fayette County Free Fair Association. The other is at Baptist Temple. According to city officials, the fairgrounds location will consolidate into Baptist Temple on Aug. 28.Steele said Baptist Temple has served a few dozen families as of Tuesday afternoon, while the fairgrounds location has seen hundreds since opening.At the Baptist Temple center, families sign in, indicate how many people they are shopping for and are then guided through the space with a cart. Available items include food, clothing, personal hygiene products, cleaning supplies, blankets, box fans, brooms, mops, bleach and pre-assembled buckets stocked with trash bags and cleaning supplies.John Pause, the city's director of TV3 and acting information officer, said the response since the flood has been swift."There's been a huge amount of effort going in since Friday after the flood," Pause said. "Just to see the outpouring of concern and care and the volunteers that have flooded in from our community."The United Cajun Navy arrived after the flood and is now headquartered at the Baptist Temple gym. Pause said all volunteer efforts are being routed through the organization."If somebody needs stuff removed from their house, we're sending out volunteers from here through the United Cajun Navy and they're handling that," Pause said. "We just found out that they're also offering demolition on homes if the homeowner doesn't have insurance."On the city's east side, parts of Vine Street remains closed on Tuesday as residents sift through wrecked and still-flooded homes.Pause said the flooding's reach extended well beyond the east side of Connersville."South of town, we've got Alpine and Laurel, and the river runs right by there and it destroyed a lot of homes in that area. North of town, out near Waterloo, all of those homes were affected as well," Pause said.For homeowners navigating next steps, Pause said the priority is clearing debris, followed by a home assessment. Team Rubicon is currently in Connersville assessing homes and beginning mold remediation.Pause said documentation is critical for anyone who was affected."The most important thing is that anybody affected by the flood is being very careful to record everything, document everything, so that if there are possibly any kind of federal funds in the future, that you'll have the information that will help with that," Pause said.City officials say cleanup will take weeks, and there are plans to eventually shift the distribution center away from immediate needs to longer-term resources."For maybe vaccine shots, things like that, paperwork help, identification help, and FEMA paperwork," said Steele.For those outside the Connersville area who want to help, Pause said the Fayette Community Foundation has established a relief fund. Donations can be made as a one-time gift or on a recurring basis through the foundation's website.Those who need shelter or assistance can call the Fayette County EMA at (765) 222-1530. The Red Cross has also set up a regional relief center at the Wayne County Fairgrounds for those who are fully displaced.This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy. ...read more read less