Residents in a southern Illinois city were instructed on Tuesday to “evacuate now” as officials warned of an imminent dam failure at the city’s reservoir.
In a social media statement released on Tuesday, the Washington County Emergency Management Agency announced: “Attention … the Failure of the Nashville dam is imminent. Please evacuate your home at this time. If you are in the grey box, you need [to] evacuate now!” It was referring to an area that appears to be downstream from the reservoir.
Officials cautioned in the statement that the dam “has been overtopped with flood waters.”
According to a map shared by the emergency agency, the dam in jeopardy is the Nashville City Reservoir Dam, which holds the Nashville City Reservoir.
Another update from the emergency management agency’s social media page stated that a shelter was established on Nashville’s West Walnut Street. Officials added, “The Red Cross has been activated.”
Evacuations were underway in Nashville, a town in Washington County, Illinois, approximately 50 miles southeast of St. Louis.
Washington County remained under a flash flood warning until 1:45 p.m. ET, as reported by the National Weather Service (NWS). Officials stated that the area has already received between 2 to 6 inches of rain over the past 24 hours, with an additional 0.3 to 1 inch possible in the warned area. They emphasized that “life-threatening” flooding is ongoing.
“Flash flooding is ongoing,” the NWS wrote. “Illinois State Police reported I-64 closed in both directions between mile markers 50 and 61.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Alex Haglund from the Washington County management agency informed local news outlet KSDK-TV that a secondary dam on the reservoir had collapsed. This was also confirmed by the Emergency Management Agency in their statement.
During the last census, Nashville’s population was approximately 3,100 people.
The rain was part of a series of storms that moved through the state, which was part of a larger system that also brought tornadoes and tornado warnings to other areas, including Des Moines, Iowa, and the Chicago area.
As of noon local time, PowerOutage.us reported that approximately 215,000 customers in Illinois were without power.
The Chicago Fire Department reported on social media that the nation’s third-largest city experienced only one serious injury, with a person injured by a falling tree onto a car. Additionally, O’Hare International Airport in Chicago reported 81 flight cancellations as of Tuesday morning, while Midway International Airport reported eight cancellations.
In Joliet, Illinois, located 35 miles southwest of Chicago, authorities reported numerous roads blocked by fallen trees. The storms also knocked out power to thousands in Ohio and Pennsylvania and caused damage to property, trees, and power lines. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
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