Southwestern Illinois may be in for another year of record-breaking flooding, experts say
The St. Louis region and metro-east area are primed for another record-breaking flood season, according to weather forecasters.
It’s news that has area emergency officials bracing for another bout with the Mississippi River.
In downtown St. Louis, the river didn’t fall below flood stage until late July. By then, residents and businesses along its banks had been fighting back the waters for 127 days, which shattered the record of 107 days during the Flood of 1993. The high watermark for the Mississippi River at St. Louis, reached 46.02 feet, the river’s second-highest recorded crest.
According to the National Weather Services’ 2020 Spring Flood Outlook, existing conditions coupled with this winter’s weather is setting up the Mississippi River for more of the same.
Melissa Mainhart, a meteorologist with the National Weather Services’ St. Louis Branch, said the Mississippi River will begin this year’s flood season at elevated levels due to “well above normal” streamflow through the winter months and above normal snowpacks in the north.
Factoring in the area’s saturated soil, early forecasts of high spring precipitation make conditions prime for moderate to major flooding on the Mississippi River, especially in the metro-east, Mainhart said.
“We’re going to see flooding that’s comparable to last year,” she aid. “Any water that thaws or runs down from the north will go straight into the river because it can’t be absorbed by the soil.”
She said due to last year’s record-setting flooding, the Mississippi River never returned back to a “normal” crest, meaning the river will already be elevated when flood season arrives.
“The Mississippi dropped below flood stage but it stayed higher than normal,” said Mainhart.
Last year’s sustained flooding caused an estimated $33 million in damage to the metro-east, according to St. Clair, Madison and Monroe county emergency management agencies. Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency are still working on public assistance claims from municipalities and other agencies in St. Clair County.
St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons said the prospect of additional flood damage weighs on his staff staff. He said he and his staff have been meeting with NWS staff in recent weeks to discuss flood forecasts.
St. Clair, Madison counties prepare for worst
Recovery for parts of St. Clair County is ongoing as reimbursements are taking longer than expected for many communities, Simmons said. He said the way the county prepares can make a difference.
“We always are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best,” Simmons said. “It’s getting to be kind of an old habit to us to prepare for it, but we like to stay proactive as we’ve done in the past few years.”
Simmons said he hopes 2020’s season isn’t as severe. But, he added, severe, long-lasting floods are becoming an annual expectation.
“I always say I don’t want to go through something like the 1993 flood again,” Simmons said. “But here we are in 2020 faced with the possibility ...”
Upriver in Madison County, Emergency Management Agency Director Tony Falconio said his office also is bracing for a flood season to rival last year’s.
Cleanup from river flooding has long been over in Madison County, he said. He said his attention is currently on recovery in Granite City from flash flooding in August and on what state officials are calling the “imminent” spread of coronavirus.
“We’re preparing just like everyone else,” Falconio said.
Mainhart said residents who live in low-lying areas should prepare for the flood season as well by staying informed and checking the water levels of area rivers. She said people should keep an eye on the forecast by visiting https://water.weather.gov/ahps/ for area river levels.
This story was originally published February 29, 2020 at 5:00 AM.