OTTAWA – Preparations are under way for a potential record flood with voluntary evacuations being issued in Utica and Marseilles.
The Utica Village Board meet Tuesday night and declared a local emergency granting emergency powers to Mayor David Stewart. Current projections are for the river to flood portions of IL-178 past the village hall.
The City of Marseilles also activated their Flood Emergency Response plan. As a result a voluntary evacuation for the areas south of the I & M Canal and east of Main Street. This includes Mill Street.
The potential flooding has also caused the closure of Ottawa High School, Ottawa Elementary District 141, Jefferson Elementary Ottawa and Marseilles Elementary SD150 on Wednesday. The City of Ottawa closed Green Street and Chicago Road and Champlain and Superior streets. Other preparations included the closure of Dee Bennet Koenig road to IL-178.
The LaSalle County Nursing Home evacuated it residents as a precaution and Starved Rock State Park closed riverside parking lots after floodwaters spilled over the retaining wall. However the park and lodge remains open and none of the parks trails were affected
The National Weather Service has issued Flood Warnings for the Illinois and Fox Rivers. In LaSalle, the river is expected to rise over ten more feet between now and Thursday morning, topping off at 32.5 feet. In Ottawa the river was 465.4 feet which is two feet above flood stage. Major flooding is forecast rising nearly another six feet by early Thursday morning. On the Fox River by Wednesday some homes could be threatened south of the I&M Canal.
The current forecasts call for the river to crest short of the record flood of April 20, 2013, but still would be a near top record setting event.
