Heavy rains in Illinois cause some flooding, close roads

Heavy rains in central and southeastern Illinois on Sunday caused a dam to overflow, closed roads and trapped some residents in their homes.

"We have widespread flooding downstate," said Ed Holicky, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's Lincoln office. "We've had a lot of rain, lots of evacuations and lots of rivers approaching crests."

The Sangamon River was expected to crest at 30.5 feet Monday at Riverton, and at Petersburg on Thursday, the second-highest level on record for both locations, Holicky said. The source of all the water was a slow-moving storm traveling southeast across central Illinois.

In the Jasper County town of Newton, there were reports of flooded roadways and a two-hour rainfall amount of 3.28. Police were called to help an elderly woman leave her flooded home.

Authorities used sandbags to battle high water in Vermilion County, Holicky said. He said rain also washed out bridges in Christian County and boats were used to rescue stranded residents in Moultrie County.

The dam on Lake Wee-Ma-Tuk near Canton was not in danger of breaching, but Fulton County officials were monitoring the 150-foot long structure, authorities said.

"We've just had too much water in the county," Fulton County dispatcher Montye Jolliff said. "Some of our county roads have washed out, water's standing in the cornfields and going into the highway, making it look like there's a lake in the middle of the highway."

In Menard County, residents put sandbags around the water treatment plant in Petersburg because of the rising Sangamon River, weather service meteorologist Brad Ketcham said.

"We have flood warnings out for almost every one of our rivers in central Illinois," Ketcham said.

For several hours on Sunday, Interstate 72 was closed near Springfield and Interstate 55 near Divernon was shut down, said Illinois State Police Master Sgt. Barb Freesen.

"People are approaching the flooded areas at too great of a speed," Freesen said. "We've got our troopers out and the Department of Transportation and we're keeping an eye on trouble areas and will be doing so throughout this weather period."

Standing water in Hancock County also caused several vehicles to slide off the roads and end up in ditches, a Hancock County dispatcher said.

Some residents have reported flooding in their basements, but there have been no major evacuations, officials said.

High water also was reported in the Chicago area, flooding viaducts and closing some residential streets, meteorologist Paul Merzlock said.

The area north of Chicago had received nearly two inches of rainfall by Sunday afternoon, while rainfall south of the city totaled up to four inches, he said.