Rain brings many problems

BY BRIAN L. HUCHEL

DANVILLE Tue, May 13 2008

— Local emergency personnel took action Tuesday afternoon following new dangerous flooding predictions for the county.
The rivers continue to rise this morning across Vermilion County as rains last night fed the growing flood conditions.
The National Weather Service in Lincoln now predicts the Vermilion River will crest at 29.1 feet later this evening, more than 10 feet above flood stage and just 2 feet shy of the record.
As of 6 a.m., waters in the North Fork — 20 feet — and Middle Fork — 13 feet — were past flood stage and still rising.
Ted Fisher, director of the Danville/Vermilion County Emergency Management Agency, said city police and firemen were dispatched Tuesday to Morin Addition to circulate warnings of the possibility the area will flood. The decision was made following a meeting with Mayor Scott Eisenhauer and Department of Public Safety Director Larry Thomason.
The local American Red Cross also was preparing a shelter for any families that needed a place to stay.
As of this morning, almost half of the Morin Addition was flooded, but West Wil-liams Street remained passable, Fisher said.
Officials also are keeping track of Shangri-La south of Batestown Road, where flooding was a strong possibility, and Gundy Cemetery Road and Arrowhead Road, both near Bismarck. Ellsworth Park already is flooded.
In addition, Fisher said a few families near Kickapoo State Park are stranded this morning because of waters flooding from Glenburn Creek.
City of Danville officials are considering putting up sandbags to prevent rising waters from Stoney Creek from entering the city garage.
Capt. Dennis Wood of the Vermilion County Sheriff’s Department said deputies were called out to two rescue situations involving water Tuesday night.
Just before 8 p.m., a woman living in a camper-trailer along Arrowhead Road called in saying she could not leave her home.
Wood said deputies worked for three hours using boats and a truck loader from the county’s highway department to go three-quarters of a mile through water to retrieve the woman safely.
During the time, a car was reported off the road and submerged near 23202N 900E Road. The driver of the vehicle was standing atop the car when deputies arrived. With the help of passersby and the Oakwood Ambulance Service, the driver was retrieved.
This morning, deputies reported several roads impassable because of the flooding.
“Do not drive into standing water,” Wood warned. “If you know you’re coming to a low spot in the road or going through a dip in road, that’s a good place to look for water.”
Fisher said the 13-15 families that live in the Morin Addition can be warned of the danger, but officials cannot force them to evacuate their homes.
“A lot of people like to ride it out,” he said, adding it is hard to get people to leave their homes.
Two boat crews were on-hand and ready in case an emergency should arise, Fisher said.
In Indiana, the Wabash River already has forced two families out of their homes, said Fountain County Emergency Management Agency Director Joe Whitaker.
“Most of them will stay and weather it out,” he said. “They normally do.”
The Wabash was expected to rise to 24 feet by this morning, but early observations indicated levels had not reached that point.
Whitaker said it’s predicted the river will crest at just under 28 feet on Friday — almost matching levels the area experienced during flooding in 2005.
Danville and Vermilion County were expected to get up to 2 inches of rain overnight Tuesday. That will be combined with saturated ground from last week’s melting snow and another inch of precipitation expected as either rain or snow today.
The Vermilion River is not expected to drop below flood stage until mid-day Friday. The National Weather Service has Vermilion County under a flood warning until then.
Rainfall totals locally were moving swiftly upward even before the recent showers. Just a few days into the month of February, figures indicate 1.13 inches of pre-cipitation thus far — just three-quarters of an inch less than the average for the entire month. That doesn’t include downpours that soaked the area later Tuesday night.
For the year, Aqua Illinois reports 3.32 inches, higher than the 2.61 inches the area had accumulated by this time last year.
While Vermilion County is dealing with the conditions now, Fisher said local residents are not the only ones who will face the hazardous waters.
“The people that are going to suffer the most are in Cayuga (Ind.),” he said. “This is all going to go to them.”