Flood Warning On Illinois River For Second Time In Less Than A Week

For the second time in less than a week, there is a flood warning along the Illinois River. 

The National Weather Service expects the river will rise to 12 feet or more by Wednesday, putting it in the minor flood stage category.  

As of Tuesday, the river was at about eight feet and some businesses were preparing for the water to rise.  

Arrowhead Resort said it is already calling customers, warning them they may not be able to float the river this weekend depending on how high the water gets. 

The resort said it is still surveying the situation after last week's flooding when the water rose to nearly 22 feet, hitting major flood stage. 

While the water is only expected to reach about 12 feet Wednesday, Co-Owner Austin Spears said there could be a lot of debris and tree limbs that need to be cleared out before people can safely float the river.  

"A bunch of limbs could be caught up somewhere and we got to go up and get that stuff cleared,” Spears said. “And we assist GRDA and other resorts to help try to clear things to make things safe for families because you know, here in a couple weeks, people will be out of school and they're wanting to get outside and do some recreation."  

Cherokee County Emergency Management Director Mike Underwood said he received several phone calls Monday night from people who live in the southern part of the county, many of them reporting they saw four inches of rain overnight.

He said they did not see any flooding damage.