Morning has broken...
...the Cairo levees have held.
I have made my morning rounds of local websites for new flood news. Nothing...
I have looked out my window...nothing.
And, that will probably remain the same...
...or not.
Reportedly:
- If the Army Corps of Engineers decides to blow the Birds Point levee, they will give a 24-hour warning. So, if they decided right this minute to do it (which they have NOT), nothing would happen until Sunday.
- Rain is in the forecast, but not until late tonight or Sunday. (Last forecast of 1-4 inches.)
- The Mississippi and Ohio Rivers are inching (tenth-of-an-inching) upward. With no blowing of the Birds Point levee today, that will most likely continue. There will be much wishin' and hopin' and prayin' that it will level off and start fallin'.
- The watch will continue for sand boils and collapsing streets as monitoring and sandbagging continue of current ones.
- Remaining residents will anxiously await word of whether they will be forced to leave Cairo, evacuations remaining voluntary.
In short...
Today promises to be a quiet day...
...or not.
Probably one of those proverbial "No news is good news" days.
POSTSCRIPT:
Have not kept up with business closings and people evacuating. Some of the posted news stories contained information on that topic.
However, this I do know:
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers...but apparently high water does! The Cairo Post Office closed yesterday. Wanna mail a letter, get in your car and drive to a neighboring town. Wanna receive mail? Hope or pray that the water goes down before your bills are due.
Cairo branches of Capaha and First National banks are closed. Capaha has announced that Cairo residents are welcome to use their other local branches. First National announced on their website that they have opened an office in Olive Branch...but will have no money on hand, will not accept money. (The irony of that choice was the local knowledge that Olive Branch always floods before Cairo...and, indeed, the Illinois State Police are telling people NOT to go to Olive Branch, NOT to travel Route 3 unless they are part of the emergency relief effort.)
Cairo's only full service grocery closed a couple of days ago. The in-town and out-of-town Dollar Stores were still open as of yesterday.
The Cairo Pharmacy closed yesterday. (Bode Drugs in Mound City was still making deliveries to Cairo.)
The Guetterman Auto Dealer's parking lot was empty of their normal allotment of cars and trucks.
There were moving vans at the Departmen of Children & Family services and the Department of Human Services yesterday moving stuff out of the buildings.
The Cairo Public Utility office closed yesterday...for "the duration". (Of course with the street directly in front of their building collapsing - as usual - that was probably a wise decision.
McGinness Florist and NAPA Parts had an 18-wheeler backed up to their building a couple of days ago with the front door open (probably removing some of the contents although I did not actually witness it. If you called the Florist, I don't know what would be the result.) That also proved to be a wise decision since directly behind their building is where the large sand boil appeared. Their parking lot is now serving as a staging area for local authorities and National Guard personnel who are sandbagging in a so-far successful effort to contain it.
I'm sure there are others and if credible sources let me know, I will add to the list.
Stay tuned...
