ALTON – Floodwaters are again receding in Alton, as they are everywhere else in the area, but many people are left wondering if April's floods are just an opening act for something larger.
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Meteorologists from the National Weather Service in St. Louis have stated the wettest months of the year are yet to come, with May and June historically hosting some of the highest crests in both the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. As winter's final stand is melting in the Upper Mississippi Valley, all of that melted ice and snow has to go somewhere – and it usually travels downstream. When even average spring rainfall is added to that, the risk of flooding downriver increases tremendously. If there is above-average precipitation or a few torrential downpours in Iowa or Northern Illinois, flooding could return with a vengeance later this season.
Riverbender has covered the flood situations in Grafton and Calhoun County with two previous stories, but closer to home in Alton, things are looking hopeful, but not the bright sunshine, butterflies and rainbows sort of hopeful. In fact, Alton Mayor Brant Walker is not hopeful the river will not breach its banks. He is hopeful the technologies and new techniques being utilized by the city will help it overcome when the river does to the inevitable.
When flooding reached its crest in Alton last week, Walker said the city's “Muscle Wall” was deployed.
“The water has crested, and it's dropping now,” Walker said last Friday. “It should go down a foot by Monday or Tuesday. One or two businesses were impacted downtown. I think we'll be dealing with this all spring. We have rock ordered, and we're waiting to see what Mother Nature sends us. We deployed the Muscle Wall. We have always used a labor-intensive material usage wall. The Muscle Wall is a big plastic barrier that locks in place. It is very light – two guys put it up in about two hours. It uses neoprene lining to lock the pieces together, and we set it up with sand.”
The Muscle Wall is one of many improvements made to flood management since the Great Flood of 1993. Walker, who has lived on the river for decades – on both the Missouri and Illinois side – said he is trying not to think about the 1993 numbers.
On April 3, the Mississippi River in Alton crested at 31.97 feet, which is less than the 10th highest historical crest by more than a foot. By historic standards, this past crest was not much of anything. The 1993 numbers Walker said he is trying not to think about reached 42.72 feet on August 1 of that year. The next highest crest was 36.90 feet on June 18, 1844. The third highest crest was just a hundreth of a foot less than 1844 in 1973 on April 28.
These past numbers do not tell the entire story, however. Three of Alton's 10 historic crests occurred during Walker's administration. He was elected as a write-in candidate in 2013. That same year, on June 4, Alton had its seventh-highest crest at 34.38 feet.
On the first day of 2016, Alton experienced a crest of 35.80 feet in an extremely rare winter flash flooding event. That was the fourth highest crest experienced in the city – just behind the 1973 number. That next year, the river crested at 34.86 feet on May 6, making it the sixth highest crest in the city's history.
This is not news to Walker, however.
“There is something definitely happening with the weather,” he said. “I hate to say this but I really think this is global warming – climate change. I grew up in and around the river. Those December floods (in 2015-16) took hours instead of weeks. These are definitely unusual times. The river is not behaving the way it used to.”
When asked what the city is doing to remedy the rapid encroachment of climate change, Walker said it is doing its best to stay “green.” He said his administration tries for air quality and environmental grants. He said it partnered with Ameren Illinois to change lights to LED across the city and even pays more for renewable electricity.
“We do everything was can as a community to stay green,” he said.
While Walker is aware of the greater issue and claims he is doing what he can to remedy the issue, climate change is not something quickly or easily reversed, and current models show Altonians may have to cope with historic floods being a way of life in the future. Investments in flood prevention and management such as the Muscle Wall and better infrastructure seems like they could help battle the inevitable when it does come, however, if this past flood is any indication.
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