Is my tree stood in water after the yard flooded and now it looks sick an emergency?
Within days. Roots need oxygen, and water fills the pore space that delivered it. The tree is suffocating rather than drowning, and fine absorbing roots die within days in oxygen-free soil, so the tree shows drought symptoms while standing in water. Past the root loss, saturated soil shifts chemically and favors water-mold pathogens like Phytophthora that attack the root collar. Saturated soil also grips a root plate far more weakly than dry soil does, so a tree that was stable last week may not be this week.
What changes while you wait
Fine roots start dying within a few days of continuous growing-season inundation; sensitive species can be past saving in a week or two under water, while tolerant species stand weeks. Crown symptoms then run one to three seasons behind. The urgent piece is separate and immediate: while soil is saturated the tree's anchorage is at its weakest, and central Indiana's flooding rains arrive on the same fronts that bring wind. If the tree is leaning further than it was, if soil is heaving or cracking on one side, or if the root plate moves as the tree sways, stay out from under it and call the same day. Without those signs, the flood is a days-scale problem to fix and a multi-year problem to watch.
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