Cairo mayor: People can return starting at 3 p.m.

CAIRO, Ill. -- More than a week after city leaders ordered residents to evacuate, Cairo Mayor Tyrone Coleman announced Wednesday people can return to their homes beginning at 3 p.m.

Coleman, sworn into office May 2, kept the evacuation in place even after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers breached a levee opening the Birds Point-New Madrid floodway. Although the Ohio River has dropped since then -- from 61.72 feet to 57 feet -- Coleman was concerned about safety of the residents, calling the flooding and rainfall unprecedented. Sand boils and sink holes had been observed in Cairo, associated with the massive pressure on the city's flood-control system.

Only about 100 people, not including emergency personnel and law enforcement, stayed in Cairo while the order was in place.

"Citizens are being asked to be respectful and responsive to any emergency personnel that remain in the city who are continuing to provide services for our community, so, that it may continue to remain safe," Coleman said in a news release.

Coleman is keeping a curfew in place until 6 a.m. May 17. From 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. no one except emergency personnel may be on the city streets.

While the curfew is in place, Coleman said no alcohol can be sold in Cairo. Businesses, with the exception of those selling alcoholic beverages, can resume operations Thursday, the mayor added.

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