ST. CHARLES – Several agricultural levees have breached or over-topped since flooding began in the area in late March, causing turmoil for area farmers.
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Most recently, the Elm Point Levee in St. Charles suffered at least one breach near the On Wheels storage facility. The facility specializes in storing vehicles, and a representative of that establishment told Riverbender.com they have as many as 600 customers who need to move their property from harm's way in the next 24 hours as a result of that breach. They specialize in storing RVs, boats, box trucks and large tractor trailers. She said breaches to the west and north of the St. Charles property will put it underwater by Tuesday.
In the Riverbend, a levee breaking south of Chouteau Island is causing massive issues for the area's main supplier of municipal water, Illinois American Water. According to a release put out by the company, the levee breakage occurred just south of the intake facility located on Chouteau Island, causing damage to its infrastructure. Because of this, water is not coming into Granite City, and customers are being asked to conserve water. Even U.S. Steel's Granite City location was closed Monday in an effort to conserve water usage in that area.
Areas affected by the water conservation request include: Belleville, East St. Louis, Granite City, Madison, Venice, Centreville, Brooklyn, Fairmount City, Sauget, Shiloh, Washington Park, Alorton, Cahokia, Swansea, Canteen Township, Stookey Township, Smithton Township and Nameoki Township. It also affects the company's wholesale communities, including: Scott Air Force Base, O'Fallon, Caseyville, Millstadt, Metro-East Municipal Joint Action Water Agency, Mitchell Water District, Pontoon Beach Water District, Waterloo, Livingston, Hamel, Worden, Williamson, Pierron, Pocahontas, St. Jacob, Grantfork, Marine and Alhambra. Service in the Alton area is not affected by this breach.
“Our team reacted quickly and is working to complete critical repairs,” Senior Manager of Field Operations and Production Karen Cooper said in a release from Illinois American Water. “While this work is completed, customer conservation of water use is critical to maintaining water service for customer needs, including sanitation and fire protection. We thank our customers for their help and cooperation.”
One levee with all eyes currently on it is the Nutwood Levee in Jersey and Greene Counties on the east side of Hardin. That levee is designed to hold just a bit more than 39 feet, Calhoun County Emergency Services Director Chuck Lanczkowski said. He believes the levee will hold with this week's coming crest. In a phone interview with Riverbender.com Saturday, Lanczkowski said many people are working on sandbagging the levee to ensure it can make it past this week's crest, which will immediately be followed by a lot more rain – if the forecast holds true.
As of now, Hardin is expected to see a crest of around 38 feet by Tuesday. Unlike Alton, which will see a swift lowering of floodwaters following its predicted crest late Monday night, Hardin's waters will lower much slower. This could spell disaster for the county if this week's rains do come with the potential to bring higher river levels. National Weather Service Hydrologist Mark Fuchs said Alton, Grafton and Hardin could each see crests as high as these by next weekend, adding the potential for higher crests is also likely. As it stands now, this crest will be the third highest in Hardin's history.
If that Nutwood Levee does breach, as many fear, Hardin will be inaccessible via Route 16. This would further isolate the county and make the Kampsville Ferry the fastest way to reach Greene and Jersey Counties and points to the south. If the levee breaches as Nutwood – as it did in 1993 – residents said a mere trip from Hardin to Jerseyville will take four hours and cover as much as 120 miles.
To prepare for that, Lanczkowksi said convicts were working on the levee on Saturday morning, and posts to social media from Calhoun District #40 showed student volunteers working diligently to sandbag that levee on Monday.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also provided a list of levees currently over-topped and breached in the area. Outside of the breaches at Chouteau Island and Elm Point, there have also been over-tops at the Consolidated North County Levee District in Missouri on May 5, Sandy Creek, Missouri on May 4 (which is also further endangering the On Wheels Storage lot), King's Lake, Missouri on May 3, Foley, Missouri on May 3, Winfield, Missouri on May 3 and Pike Grain 4, Missouri on May 2. Breaches occurred at Pike Grain 3, Missouri on May 3 and Kissinger, Missouri on May 3.
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