Two months after historic flooding devastated the Ravenswood neighborhood, residents are moving into the next phase of recovery and finding their new normal.
Longtime Ravenswood resident Kelly Arterberry said the days and weeks immediately after the floods the weekend of Aug. 16 were emotional.
“It was just like, why am I crying over people’s trash outside?” she said. “It was just like everybody’s whole life outside, it was terrible. But now I think everybody’s on the upswing.”
Arterberry’s family has six properties in Ravenswood that experienced various levels of damage. She said her parents, who live in one of the homes the family owns, have spent some time staying in a hotel and a camper. Although work on their own house still isn’t complete, construction is far enough along that they can at least sleep in it now.
But some residents, like Gw Welsh, haven’t been as lucky.
Welsh’s home had significant flooding, and he said it will need to be completely demolished. Welsh, his wife and three dogs are living in a 20-foot camper on their property. His son is living with a family member.
He described the recovery process as sad and, at times, frustrating.
After the floods, many residents had to navigate flood insurance and applications for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. And some homes were built prior to current floodplain standards. Because of the new standards, some of these homes are required to be raised and permits are needed before any construction can begin.
“We have to get specific, different permits,” Welsh said. “Then once we get the permits, we can’t even demo until we have an engineer come out and design a new home.”
In addition to fixing his own home, Welsh spends his days helping neighbors rebuild their houses or getting connected with resources.
In the days after the flooding, Welsh and other residents formed the Ravenswood Community Corp., an organization aimed at rebuilding Ravenswood.
The group has a mobile trailer that serves as an office in the parking lot of Riverwood Park. Here, residents can get referrals for trusted contractors. The group also connects people with government agencies for permit or financial assistance or mutual aid groups, for help with food, clothing or anything else they may need.
Bryan Bowen acts as the incident commander for the organization. He gathers case management information, assesses needs and directs resources.
Bowen said while many people have moved onto what he calls “phase two” of the recovery, there are some who are still displaced. He said people spent hours just trying to navigate the flood recovery permit process.
“That’s hard as it is,” Bowen said. “But then some other people have extra situations, whether they’re seniors or have children, or there’s some people who are battling pretty intense medical issues during this process.”
Bowen said Ravenswood Community Corp. wants to fill in the gaps where they can.
The organization offers households gift cards to Lowe’s. This month, the organization is also giving out gift cards to Spirit Halloween so kids can get costumes. There are plans to provide families with Christmas trees this winter.
Local restaurants have provided hot meals for the neighborhood. On a Wednesday night, The Rook Pub handed out plates of meatloaf, mashed potatoes and brownies. Kids played at the park while adults checked in on each other outside of the Ravenswood Community Corp. office.
“This is a diverse group of freaking neighbors, man,” Welsh said. “It’s weird. It doesn’t make any sense, but it’s working and people are happy.”
Welsh said there are still a lot of unknowns for the future, but Ravenswood residents are resilient.
“Is it going to be a rough winter?” Welsh said. “Yes. But people are going to look out and make sure that nobody’s going without this winner. I love that.”
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Mirror Indy reporter Darian Benson covers east Indianapolis. Contact her at 317-397-7262 or darian.benson@mirrorindy.org. Follow her on X @HelloImDarian or on Bluesky @darianbenson.bsky.social.
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