Early Week Storms and Heavy Rainfall Across Illinois

All sections of Illinois seem to have experienced bad weather already this week. 

On Tuesday, excessive rainfall caused flooding situations on roadways in several communities in southwestern Illinois, with the worst of it occuring around Nashville.  That area received upwards of 6" of rain from early morning Tuesday into the afternoon.  According to Capitol New Illinois, that caused the Nashville City Reservoir to overflow its dams, forcing around 200 people to evacuate.  There were no reported injuries from the flooding, and only one person needed assistance in evacuating their home.  Extensive damage was done to homes in the path of the flood, with waist-high water seen in some houses, yards, and driveways.  The Red Cross is assisting those who had evacuated.

Washington County Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Alex Haglund stated that the dams actually worked as they were designed to in flooding situation.  The design consists of a main dam with spillway, and a secondary earthworks dam.  That allowed high water to breach the secondary dam, diverting water to protect the main dam.  This overflow situation also occured in 2022.

Flooding also closed numerous routes in Washington and St. Clair counties for a time, including Interstate 64 near Nashville.  

The Washington County EMA office recieved calls from state and federal officials, including a White House representative.

Two deaths due to drowning were reported in Jersey County, with flooding also affecting communities in the Metro East.  

Earlier in the week, storms developed over Iowa and pushed into northern Illinois, causing damage on Monday evening.  A FarmWeek article listed storms having winds over 90mph with heavy rain.  The Storm Prediction Center confirmed that the storm was defined as a 'derecho', meeting the requirements of wind damage at least 400 miles long and 60 miles wide, with winds gusts over 57mph along most of its length.  16 tornado warnings were issued in the Chicagoland area, with more having occured the night before.

The rest of the week is expected to be much quieter, weatherwise.