Board of commissioners meeting held Friday: Local flood relief effort highlighted

Thu, 12/31/2015 - 7:00pm admin

source="bafd6448acb2a25298f1cd318b6dd5de.jpg"

An update on the holiday season flood in the area was shared at last week's regular meeting of the Union County Board of Commissioners.The meeting was Friday morning, Jan. 8, at the Union County Courthouse in Jonesboro.Disaster DeclarationDuring Friday's meeting, county officials voiced frustration and disappointment because Union County has not been declared a state disaster area as a result of the flooding, which began in late December and continued into January.Gov. Bruce Rauner has issued disaster declarations which included 23 Illinois counties. The declaration included Jackson County and Alexander County, but did not include Union County.The Mississippi River borders Union, Jackson and Alexander counties on the west. A state disaster declaration makes a wide variety of state resources available that can help communities respond and recover from flooding.County officials learned at Friday's board meeting that it appears Union County was not included in the disaster declaration because no homes were flooded in the county. Efforts, however, continue to have Union County designated as a disaster area."To us, it's frustrating," board of commissioners chairman Richard Cunningham said about Union County's absence from the list of counties which have been declared as state disaster areas."We're the only county in a major floodplain that was not declared a disaster area. It's terrible," Cunningham said.County commissioners were grateful for the local response to the flooding.Cunningham praised all of the work which was done as the waters rose."Some people were helped by others they did not even know," Cunningham said. He added that it was "pretty special" how people helped those in need. "It worked out very well, and everybody is greatly appreciated."Voluntary Evacuation Order LiftedFlood waters which reached record high levels in the region have been receding during the past week.Effective at 8 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, a voluntary evacuation order was lifted for all areas of Union County that were affected by the recent threat of flooding conditions.An end to the voluntary evacuation order, which had been issued when flood waters were on the rise, was announced in a statement which was released by the following county officials:Union County Sheriff Scott Harvel, Union County Ambulance Service Service director Grant Capel, Union County 911 coordinator Jana Fear, Union County Board of Commissioners chairman Richard Cunningham and Union County Emergency Services and Disaster Agency coordinator Dana Pearson.When the voluntary evacuation order was lifted, the statement issued by county officials voiced their appreciation "to all the citizens who cooperated with the voluntary evacuation request. We understand that this might have been an inconvenience but for the safety of the public, it was a necessary action."To all the many volunteers and businesses that donated their time and supplies, we would like to extend our thanks and gratitude for your thoughtfulness during a time (when) many were in distress."It was very heartwarming to see our community come together in a time of great need to help their neighbors in difficult times."Sheriff Harvel and ESDA coordinator Pearson presented written reports which reviewed flood-fighting efforts.Sheriff's ReportThe sheriff's report, which was dated Jan. 6, follows:The Union County Sheriff’s Office was involved in a massive effort to help and assist many residents that were affected by recent flooding conditions experienced in the Mississippi river bottoms area located within Union County, Illinois from December 28, 2015, to January 6, 2016.I wanted to inform you and the other Board of Commissioners the efforts made by the Sheriff’s Office over the last ten days. Below is a compilation of the Sheriff’s Office’s activity during the flooding event.1) Patrolled 4,422 miles specifically in the area affected by the flood. 2) A total of 278 man hours worked during the flooding event. 3) 38.5 hours of overtime was worked by Patrol Deputies and another 32 hours wasworked by Dispatchers for a total cost of $2,022.77. 4) 287.54 gallons of fuel consumed during the ten day period. 5) Approximately 40 homes and properties were placed on a security watchlist and monitored while residents were away from their homes during the evacuation.Finally, I want to make you aware that by utilizing personnel in an efficient way I avoided a costly overtime expense, yet provided abundant coverage to the residents affected by the flooding conditions. I am confident that these efforts were strong deterrents that may have prevented the possibility of any thefts or damages to many properties.ESDA ReportThe ESDA coordinator's report featured a timeline of the work that was done during the flood. The report, dated Jan. 8, follows:As we shift to recovery from the unprecedented flood this past week, I would like to give you an update of the week's events. The recent rains across the State of Illinois and Missouri caused the Mississippi River to rise at a rate that we haven't seen in years. The forecast by the Corps of Engineers was that we could see record levels on the Mississippi River.Many of the County staff and volunteers worked tirelessly on the flood response. Also, it is important to note that many of the employees changed or cancelled their New Year's Eve plans to support the residents of Union County when they needed it the most, and for that I convey my thanks.The following is a daily list of the preparations and response to the flood event.Tuesday 12/29: The Highway Dept., Sheriffs Dept., Ambulance Service Director and myself along with the Corp. and Levee Commissioners started patrolling the Levee and roads. We put out a Press Release advising the residents to consider evacuation until the river fell to safe levels and that in the event of a breach the tornado sirens would be activated. The Sheriffs Dept. advised residents that chose to evacuate to fill out a form so they would know to do security checks while they were away. The Highway Dept. closed the Old Cape Road near the Fair City area due to high water. All Levee roads were closed to the public on this date.Wednesday 12/30: The Ambulance Service Director made contact with the POD hospital to advise them of our situation so they could be prepared if we needed to send them a large number of our residents, along with preparing for the ability to receive medications and supplies if a triage situation were needed along with extra transport units. With the help of the Highway Dept. we placed fifteen barricades with road closed signs on the levee access roads. Two electronic message boards were placed at Ware and Wolf Lake to advise residents that in case of a breach there would be a three minute siren warning. The Red Cross was notified that Anna Heights Baptist Church was preparing to shelter residents if needed and to contact them to establish the supplies needed.Thursday 12/31: The Ambulance Service Director and I drove Silica Hill to see if it was passable in case we needed to get an ambulance to Fair City in case of an emergency. We found that the only way we could get to a patient was by a four wheel drive vehicle or boat. The Director placed a directive to his staff advising them of a staging area in case help were needed for evacuations. At 11 :00 A.M. the NWS called to inform me that the river crest had been raised to 50 feet. I forwarded the information to the Sheriff and Levee Commissioners and at that time we decided to do another press release to advise the residents of the new predicted river crest prediction. Sand boils were starting to appear along the levee which brought the need for sand bags. A request was made to IDOC for a crew to help fill sand bags for the following day.I notified the County Board Chairman and recommended that we file a Proclamation of Disaster Emergency. The Declaration was signed and faxed to lEMA on this date.Friday 1/1: The Highway Dept. hauled sand for sand bag crews. IDOC inmates filled 2000 sand bags and were transported to the levee for use by the volunteers. Anna Heights Baptist Church provided meals for all workers.Saturday 1/2: Volunteers were asked to help fill sand bags as more sand boils appeared when the water levels started dropping on the river. The volunteers filled another 2000 sand bags. Anna Heights Baptist Church provided food.Sunday 1/3: The need for sand bags continued as the levee commissioners and their volunteers worked around the clock to stabilize the boils. IDOC inmates filled another 4500 sand bags. Anna Heights Baptist Church provided food.Monday 1/4: River levels continued to drop as workers continued to monitor sand boils in four hour shifts as things started to stabilize.Tuesday 1/5: The river levels continued to fall as well as the need for sand bagging. It was decided by the Sheriff and Levee Commissioners to do a Press Release for Wednesday morning at 8 A.M. to advise residents that the voluntary evacuation was lifted due to the lower river levels.Wednesday 1/6: Press Release was put out to the public. IDOC inmates were requested to help store sand bags to be used for future flood events. All signs were taken down and returned to E.T. Simonds Construction.In summary I would like to say how truly impressed I was by the cooperation of all the Union County Agencies, community members, levee commissioners, Anna Heights Baptist and Harvest Church, Coad Chevrolet, Wolf Lake Community Center along with E.T. Simonds Construction Company, Schaefer Enterprises and Southern FS for their selfless dedication to helping others.Most of all I would like to recognize the residents affected directly by this event and thank them for working so hard on behalf of their community and for their cooperation during a very stressful time that could have had life changing consequences. Without the dedication of such truly sincere people that live right here in our county this could have had a drastically different outcome. Thank you to our Board of Commissioners for their ongoing support ofour county agencies in allowing us the resources to help those in need.

The Mississippi River's level was high on a levee west of Wolf Lake on New Year's Day.

Archive Section:

news

Board of commissioners meeting held Friday: Local flood relief effort highlighted

Subscribe to our e-edition online. Current subscribers can login here.

The Gazette-Democrat

Site Links

Sign Up For Breaking News