Nine people were injured in a five-vehicle crash May 14 that police are attributing to heavy rains on the highway.

The crash occurred at 11:35 p.m. about a mile east of Chesterton on Interstate 80/94, according to a release from Indiana State Police.

Police said one driver had to be extricated and another was ejected from a car, but none of the injuries was considered life threatening.

Police said the left eastbound lane of the interstate was completely covered in water because of a heavy downpour, which caused a 2000 Chevrolet Tahoe to hydroplane, crash head-on into a concrete median wall and come to rest facing north.

That caused a chain reaction involving three other vehicles, and a fifth vehicle was sideswiped and went off the road into a water-filled ditch off the outer shoulder, where it was submerged in water, police said.

Four occupants of one vehicle were transported to Porter Regional Hospital, and four occupants of another vehicle were transported to Franciscan Health Michigan City, including a passenger ejected onto the highway’s outer shoulder, a release said.

Another driver was extricated by the Porter Fire Department and also transported to Franciscan.

Police said the heavy downpour at the time caused the inside shoulder, left lane and part of the center lane to be covered in water.

The interstate was closed for two hours for removal of the injured, the vehicles and roadway cleanup.

Assisting were Porter police and fire departments, Chesterton police and EMS and Precision Towing.

Amy Lavalley is a freelancer.