Pearl City, Illinois, fighting through fourth '100-year flood' in 14 years

Paige Allen
kwqc.com
Sat, 22 Jul 2017 12:40 UTC

The little town of Pearl City, Ill. is experiencing what their fire chief is calling a 100-year flood.

"This is probably our fourth 100-year flood in about 14 years," Pearl City Fire Chief Brent Schneider told KWQC.

He says that current flood waters are about a foot above the level they reached in 2010, and the flood has yet to crest.

All roads in and out of the town from the North, East, and West are impassable. Schneider says that though there are a few roads to the South that are usable, all but one are still difficult to navigate.

City officials are asking all residents not to leave if they don't need to in order to ensure that the one completely clear road will be open for emergency vehicles.

Luckily, all the floods the town has experienced recently taught residents how to be prepared. Schneider said a lot of residents reinforced their homes against the rising waters ahead of time.

Still, some residents who live in particularly low-lying areas had to be evacuated by boat. First responders also rescued a few stranded motorists from the water.

So far, there have been no reported injuries.