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BETHALTO - Bethalto Mayor Alan Winslow said there were numerous streets flooded in the community and one instance where there was an evacuation of people on Virginia Street.
“I have heard reports we had 6 inches of rain here overnight,” Winslow said. “That is a phenomenal amount of water and there was no where for it to go. We had some houses flooded that have never flooded before. The water was getting so high in the yard that in some cases it was coming through the doors. It wasn’t just basement flooding but flooding on main levels of homes.”
Winslow planned to have a briefing at 1 p.m. with Bethalto Public Works Director Rod Cheatham about overnight and this morning.
“Public Works has been out all night and through the morning trying to deal with this (the rain issues),” Winslow said.
IDOT’s Tiffany Brase said there was isolated flooding on state highways throughout the region.
She urged people if water is standing at any level not to drive through it.
Illinois State Police Sgt. Jeff Snyder said there were some cars caught in the water in the region and a couple of crashes.
“The further north got it pretty bad, while South of Interstate 64 there weren’t any issues,” he said.
Snyder was surprised in one case two Highway Patrol officers flashed their lights in the road helping a stranded motorist in high water and another person from the other direction tried to drive through. The second motorist also ended up stalling their vehicle in the water, Snyder said.
“People think it takes several inches before your car will stall in water, but it doesn’t take that much,” Snyder said. “With long fast splashes into the engine, a car stalls out. We could have had a lot more incidents this morning, but I think overall, drivers were smart.”
Sgt. Mike Breihan of the Edwardsville Police Department said there were a few flash floods this morning that for a time shut down East Union at North Kansas in Edwardsville.
“We had a few other flash flood areas in town pushing up manhole covers," he said. "There was a lot of rain in quick fashion. Some of the old sewers in the city drain a little slower than others.”
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville apparently had some power issues for a brief period of time during the storm.
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