Flood remains stubborn; major relief in Illinois expected in early July

Nerves are getting frayed in McClure, Illinois, where floodwaters have surrounded the town and threaten to close the one remaining road out of the community.

“Everyone is aggravated, extremely worried and possibly mad,” McClure Mayor Cheryle Dillon posted Tuesday on Facebook.

Some McClure residents have posted on social media the flooding is because of a faulty floodgate somewhere in the levee system. However, John Osterhage, chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ emergency management section in St. Louis, said there’s no truth to that rumor. He said the prolonged flooding within the levee’s protected area is the result of unusually lengthy period of time the Mississippi River has been in flood status this year, which has saturated the ground and kept the corps from opening floodgates at lower elevations to allow flooded fields to drain.

Illinois Route 3 between McClure and Route 146 to Cape Girardeau has been closed since the weekend when water on the highway became too deep for traffic. The closure coincided with the Illinois Department of Transportation’s closure of Illinois Route 146 between East Cape Girardeau, Illinois, and Route 3.

Route 3 north of McClure remained open Tuesday, although Dillon said parts of it were covered by 3 to 4 inches of floodwater.

“I have an SUV, so I drove through it with no problem at all, but there are vehicles that are smaller than mine that might have problems,” she said in an interview. “If we get more rain, they’re going to have to sandbag it, close it or something.”

The McClure mayor said she has been in regular contact with emergency management staff at the county and state levels.

“They have not forgotten about McClure,” she said.

Thousands of sandbags were delivered to the town earlier this week by the Illinois Department of Transportation to help protect the highway north of town.

A "Road closed to thru traffic" sign is seen as an Alexander County Sheriff's Department vehicle heads east toward Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge and Illinois on Tuesday at the intersection of South Sprigg Street and Missouri Highway 74 in Cape Girardeau.Jacob Wiegand

Dillon said the floodwaters were no closer to her house Tuesday than they were Monday thanks, in part, to Tuesday’s sunny, rain-free weather that helped portable pumps near Gale keep up with incoming seep water.

The Illinois National Guard is manning a roadblock on the south end of McClure and has reportedly stopped several southbound drivers attempting to bypass the barricade on Route 3. In addition, Dillon said even though the Grapevine Trail between McClure and Tamms, Illinois, is closed, some tractor trailers have driven through ankle-deep floodwaters on the western end of the road that connects with Route 3 at McClure rather than follow a detour to avoid the flooded area.

“I wish they wouldn’t do that,” Dillon said, noting trucks are prohibited on the Grapevine Trail even when it’s not flooded. “It’s going to tear our road up.”

Meanwhile, the Missouri Department of Transportation said Tuesday the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge connecting Cape Girardeau with East Cape Girardeau was closed to all traffic. However, the mayor of East Cape Girardeau, Joe Aden, said some vehicles are being allowed to enter the town from Cape Girardeau even though most of Route 146 is under water.

“I just came across it,” Aden said, adding residents and family members were still being allowed to cross the Mississippi River bridge to access their homes as of Tuesday morning.

A "Road closed" sign is seen Tuesday at the intersection of South Sprigg Street and Missouri Highway 74 in Cape Girardeau heading toward the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge and Illinois.Jacob Wiegand

After cresting at 46.29 feet June 12 (the city’s fifth highest crest on record), the Mississippi River gauge at Cape Girardeau stood at just over 43 feet late Tuesday morning, down two-tenths of a foot from 24 hours earlier. The record crest was 48.86 feet, nearly 17 feet above Cape Girardeau’s 32-foot flood stage, set in January 2016.

Although it had predicted a slight rise in the river stage at Cape Girardeau later this week, the National Weather Service in Paducah, Kentucky, revised its forecast Tuesday afternoon and called for the river to hold steady at about 43 feet until Friday morning. Beginning on Saturday, the NWS is calling for a slow lowering of the river level for a couple of days before dropping by about a foot daily through the first week of July. By July 8, forecasters say the Mississippi River stage at Cape Girardeau should be below 36 feet.

The Mississippi River gauge at Thebes, Illinois, stood at just over 41 feet as of midday Tuesday, 8 feet above flood stage. The National Weather Service expects the river level at Thebes to hold steady at about 41 feet before starting a slow drop to 40 feet by Sunday evening. Barring any changes in the forecast, the NWS expects the river stage at Thebes to fall below 36 feet by July 6.

Once the river at Thebes falls a few more feet, Aden and Dillon believe the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers could open some levee floodgates allowing some of the floodwater within the levee to drain back into the river.