Heavy rains from storms this week led to power outages and flooded roads, basements, cars, and homes in both Illinois and Indiana.
The Vermilion County Emergency Management reports that 4-6 inches of rain fell from Thursday to Friday. It said there is more rain coming this weekend.
The agency also says that the Vermilion River near Danville on Friday afternoon is expected to “rise above flood stage” to a crest of “21.1 feet” Friday evening. They say the it will fall below flood stage — 18 feet — by Saturday morning. The emergency agency issued a flood warning until early Saturday morning on Friday, which could go into later this weekend.
Vermilion County is experiencing some flooded roads, as well as basements and cars.
Joel Bird with the Vermilion County Emergency Management says it really could be worse.
“At least all I can say is at least we are better off than some other communities at this point,” said Bird of referring to part of Indiana. “We’re pretty lucky compared to what others have right now.”
While this area wasn’t hit as hard as some areas in Indiana, Bird said Vermilion County people need to be ‘weather aware.’
“The water is going down, but it’s not going down at a rapid pace. It’s going down slowly,” Bird said. “The problem is we have more rain coming this weekend, so everybody should be weather aware that we might be under the same conditions that we are now if we get the heavy rain again that we got last [Thursday] night.”
Bird added the American Red Cross is on standby if they are needed this weekend. He also asks people to fill out a self-assessment he has on his Facebook page.
“If they could fill out that stuff, that’ll make it easier for us to figure out our greatest need, and we can get assistance through the government a little faster if we have all that stuff already taken care of,” Bird added.
Calvin White, who lives in the Holiday Hills area of Danville, said he had to evacuate his children and pets.
“My house flooded, we got our four children out, and I saved my three dogs,” White said. “Unfortunately, we lost two vehicles that were underwater, and the water has damaged our house.”
White shared videos where you can see the murky water surrounding his property and in his home. He said the Danville Police Department helped him get his children to a safe place.
Kim Cox Spangler shared a video of water rushing by her like a creek near the Meadowlawn area.
Meanwhile, Peggy Johnson shared a photo of her sister-in-law, Linda Rush, standing in their driveway after the floodwaters receded near South Daisy Lane on the east side of Danville.
Danville City’s Park and Recreation Department has closed Ellsworth Park. Any events set for the park this weekend are being moved to Lincoln Park.
Jerry Sparks, Assistant Fire Chief with the Danville Fire Department, says if your house is flooding, there are things that need to be checked.
“People just have to be generally careful with all the water… keep an eye on their basements,” Sparks said. “If their basements are flooding, then they’re going to start to run into some issues. Pilot lights are going to get burnt out. We’re going to have gas leaks and that kind of thing.”
If you have a flooded pilot light, give the department a call. They will inform Ameren of the situation and shut off the gas to prevent a gas leak.
“Ameren will lock it out until the water has receded so they’re able to get the water removed,” Sparks said. “And then they can relight their pilot lights, assuming the appliances are still in working order.”
Across the border, things are more dire.
The Governor of Indiana Mike Braun declared a state emergency for the Hoosier state, mobilizing the Indiana National Guard to provide manpower and resources.
Tina Holmes with the Fountain County Emergency Management in Indiana says in Attica was hit the hardest.
“Actually, in Fountain County, it hasn’t been bad,” Holmes said. She said it is similar to how the storms happened in June, when flooding washed out some roads in Indiana.
“We’ve just dealt with a big storm that came through Attica, a lot of trees down, some on houses, had some power outages for a day, so now they’re just trying to get that all cleaned up,” Holmes said. “I know Warren County had some flooding.”
Holmes said the National Weather Service told her the storm damage, besides the rainfall, came from straight-line winds. She urges people to be safe, while understanding people are naturally curious, but to be aware of their surroundings.
The conditions in many areas are set to decrease or clear once the rains let up. However, more rain is on the way.