Quincy nearly gets swept away (6/25/08)
Issue date: 7/2/08 Section: News
"It's good for us, but it's at someone else's expense," said Randolph County Sheriff Fred Frederking. "Had them levees not broke up north of us, we would have had problems."
Workers dumped rock against a floodgate at Kellogg as a precaution, but Frederking said he expects the area to be "in good shape." Chester Mayor Marty Bert said workers are sandbagging the Menard Correctional Facility, though he expects no damage to the structure.
Work also continues along the Sny levee, where the river has crested and was beginning to slightly recede. The nearly 1,000 Army National Guard soldiers, inmates and volunteers working there were in "maintenance mode" Tuesday, said Mike Reed, superintendent of the Sny Island Drainage District.
"We're doing fine," Reed said. "We're working hard, but everything right now is in good shape."
Workers have been sandbagging and putting down plastic and straw, Reed said, adding that they've finished elevating the 54-mile levee that protects about 150,000 acres.
In 1993, a break in the Sny flooded Hull, a town of about 440, and shut down Interstate 72.
"That's a major transportation artery that could be affected in addition to ... Hull," said Patti Thompson, spokeswoman for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
Officials said they can only hope the rivers recede peacefully and take pressure off the levees.
"The 800-pound gorilla in the room is the levees holding," Roderick said. "If the levees fail, we've got total crop loss in different parts of the county."
Workers dumped rock against a floodgate at Kellogg as a precaution, but Frederking said he expects the area to be "in good shape." Chester Mayor Marty Bert said workers are sandbagging the Menard Correctional Facility, though he expects no damage to the structure.
Work also continues along the Sny levee, where the river has crested and was beginning to slightly recede. The nearly 1,000 Army National Guard soldiers, inmates and volunteers working there were in "maintenance mode" Tuesday, said Mike Reed, superintendent of the Sny Island Drainage District.
"We're doing fine," Reed said. "We're working hard, but everything right now is in good shape."
Workers have been sandbagging and putting down plastic and straw, Reed said, adding that they've finished elevating the 54-mile levee that protects about 150,000 acres.
In 1993, a break in the Sny flooded Hull, a town of about 440, and shut down Interstate 72.
"That's a major transportation artery that could be affected in addition to ... Hull," said Patti Thompson, spokeswoman for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
Officials said they can only hope the rivers recede peacefully and take pressure off the levees.
"The 800-pound gorilla in the room is the levees holding," Roderick said. "If the levees fail, we've got total crop loss in different parts of the county."
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