With a flash flood watch looming and chances of two to four inches of rain in the forecast, city crews spent part of their day Monday setting up sandbags around flood prone areas in the city.

The National Weather Service’s flash flood watch is in effect through Tuesday morning with heavy rain expected for Kosciusko County and much of northern Indiana as well as parts of Southwest Michigan.

Warsaw street crews set up sandbags in front of Service Electric next to the old city hall on East Market Street and further to the east in around the Paws and Claws pet store.

Dina Bowser, a manager at the store, said she thinks the swift action by the city is the result of extremely heavy rains in June that flooded the store with four to six inches of rainwater.

“We’re very thankful that they came this morning and offered to put the sandbags back out,” Bowser said.

Paws and Claws is situated along part of Market Street that was reconstructed in the past year. While storm water pipes were replaced in that area, other underground pipes that carry the water away still need to be replaced with bigger diameters and will be eventually, said Jeff Beeler, public works superintendent.

The heaviest rain is expected overnight Monday, but rain is in the forecast through Tuesday.

A flash flood watch means conditions may develop that lead to flash flooding.

Rapid runoff may cause low lying areas to quickly flood. Small river and creeks can also see water levels rise quickly, the weather service warns. The weather service warned that local areas could see more than four inches of rain.

One part of the city that no longer floods is a residential area along Sunset Drive on the west side of Little Pike Lake. Beeler said conditions there have improved since some dams along part of the Tippecanoe River were cleaned up a few years ago.