The Burlington area surrounding the Fox River remained under a flood warning Tuesday afternoon as the National Weather Service predicted the river to rise to near flood stage by Wednesday afternoon.
Mayor Jeannie Hefty, aware that many local residents endured historic flooding this past July, urged people to remain calm but vigilant to changing conditions.
“Whenever water starts to rise people get concerned,” she said Tuesday afternoon. “We’re watching it and monitoring it and when we feel there is something else to go out to the community we’ll post it on social media.”
A post on the city’s Facebook page Tuesday afternoon said the city has received between 1 and 2 inches of rain, which has mixed with melting snow to create considerable runoff on the frozen ground.
Flood stage of the Fox River in Burlington is 11 feet, which is about the level at which the river was forecast to crest by the National Weather Service’s Sullivan office. As of 3:17 p.m. Tuesday the river in Burlington was at 9.7 feet, according to the NWS. For comparison, the NWS recorded a level of 16.15 in Burlington during the July 2017 flood.
According to the weather service, a level of 11 feet affects parts of Riverside Park in Burlington and covers a portion of Brever Road about 4 miles south of Burlington.
Areas further south along the Fox River are also included in the flood warning. As of 3 p.m. the NWS recorded a level of 11.1 feet on the river near New Munster. The flood stage there is also 11 feet. According to the NWS, the river in that area is expected to rise to near 13 feet by Thursday afternoon, which would likely cause moderate flooding before falling below flood stage by Monday evening.
If the river reaches 13.8 feet in that area it would likely result in floodwaters encroaching into the lower levels of some homes in the Town of Wheatland and Village of Salem Lakes areas along Riverside Drive and Shorewood Drive, the NWS predicts.
Check back later as updates will be posted to this story as needed.
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