One Calhoun County resident – Kathy Brackett – is taking a boat part of the way to get to work each day.
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Brackett of Hardin, owns a home that is above water for now and a neighbor takes her via boat so she can get out and get to the highway. She then winds around through a variety of side roads to get to work. Many other Calhoun County residents are doing the same thing now with Illinois River water levels at 36.5 feet at 10 a.m. Tuesday with a flood stage of 25 feet.
“There isn’t any mail delivery up in my area because the Postal Service can’t get to it,” she said. “The roads are covered all the way from Hardin to Kampsville. The other way south of town is covered there from the grain elevator past the pool. People have to take the back way to get to the highway.”
Each morning, Brackett takes a route that should take five minutes to town and it takes 20-25 minutes, depending on traffic on the road.”
She joked and said she tells her boys not to hang their arms out the window on that road because traffic is so heavy and some cars do drive faster than they should with such a narrow road.
Brackett said she is so thankful to her neighbor and a son for boating her home after work each day. She says that kind of neighborly help comes frequently in these kinds of situations in Calhoun County.
The Hardin woman said conditions while bad, are nothing like 1973 and 1993 yet.
She also mentioned a flood in 2013 that caused a lot of problems for residents as one she remembers.
The highest projected forecast with no additional rain is 36.5 feet for the Illinois River at Hardin. The 36.5 level was predicted for 1 p.m. today.
The Kampsville Ferry continues to operate in Calhoun County. On Monday, Route 96 in Mozier was closed due to high water.
