Area hit with 3 inches of rain in past week, more expected

Recent torrential downpours have put a hold on students' outdoor activities in the past week as Monroe County has been bombarded with rain, making things difficult for local residents and businesses.\nEd Terrell, a hydrological manager for the National Weather Service in Indianapolis, said Monroe County has received 3 inches of rain over the past week, which is almost an inch above the normal average for May.\nFlooding has been a problem in certain areas of town and the National Weather Service in Indianapolis issued a flash flood warning Monday. Stores on Kirkwood Avenue in particular saw a small decline in business, but were not overly concerned with the heavy rains. \n"The rain may hurt business for a day or so but it slows down even more when there is construction on Kirkwood," said Kristin Chaney, an employee at Pitaya, 417 E. Kirkwood Ave. Local shops on Kirkwood have worried about flooding as much since the completion of construction on the Jordan River culvert two years ago.\n"Since we completed that project there has not been flooding on the intersection of Kirkwood and Dunn (Street)," said Jane Fleigh, utilities engineer for Bloomington.\nBusinesses aren't the only ones being inconvenienced by the weather. All week students have been trudging to class, using backpacks as makeshift umbrellas. \n"It has been so dreary that it makes class really hard to sit through," senior Amy Lopez said. "I just cannot wait until it gets sunny again."\nLopez may have to wait a few days, however, for that much-anticipated sunshine. According to weather.com, scattered thunderstorms are expected today, with only partly cloudy skies Friday and Saturday. The rain is expected to pick back up Sunday and continue through Wednesday.\n-- Contact staff writer Michael Pieper at mnpieper@indiana.edu .