River update:
Well all this rain is making things go from bad to worse.
Latham is currently at 8.8 and expect it to rise 1.5 ft and Crest at 10.3 at latham.
If the storm they are talking about late this afternoon or evening dumps on us again we will be going higher than that.
The Beloit dam is being opened more today and the Rockford dam is also being opened as soon as an operator can get down there.
It can sometimes take a few hours to free up an operator.
People that don’t have electricity do have a slight priority over adjusting the dam.
I know things have been getting a little heated the last couple of days on this site and I apologize for that.
We wait all winter for our summer to go boating and mother nature has other plans for us this year and it is very discouraging.
I would recommend River residence get their boats out of the water and on a trailer.
You will sleep a little better when it’s pouring down rain knowing the boat’s not out there during a flood.
The pecatonica River is going to rise another 3 ft which means all that water is coming this way.
Byron is expected to go to moderate flood stage in Crest at 15 ft because of the kishwaukee River being out of its banks and dumping in south of our dam.
It’s going to be a long stressful week watching The River rise but there is nothing that can physically be done to control mother nature.
I know the haters will say open the damn wide open drain downtown Rockford and the flood won’t happen here.
There are trillions of gallons of water that are going to Flow by here in the next couple of weeks and nothing will stop that.
I have measured over 7 in of rain this weekend. My heart goes out to all the people that don’t live on the river and have experienced flooding in their basements that they never had before.
If you are going to be down by your dock please be extremely cautious and a life jacket is almost a must with the way the current has picked up due to the excessive flow rate.
Please be safe and let’s get through this high water event in one piece.