Six Southeastern Illinois Counties Disaster Areas
By: Web Producer
Updated: June 11, 2008
Flooding problems have poured over into Illinois.
Governor Rod Blagojevich just declared six counties in southeastern Illinois as disaster areas.
One of those counties is Lawrence.
They are dealing with extreme flooding, especially near the town of Westport.
Crews gave up on sandbagging efforts around 1:00 Tuesday morning.
Later in the day, the Ambrow River levee gave way along a 500 foot stretch. Also, the Wabash River levee collapsed in two places. Each gash is 100 feet long.
It is believed 200 homes are affected and the Red Cross has set up a shelter at Parkview Junior High.
The rivers are still rising and expected to crest Friday.
Lawrence County resident Stacy Organ said she heard the levee was unstable so she and her entire family began to do the unthinkable. Organ says, "We started packing up again. We had about ten people helping us, then we thought we were safe again, then the Ambrow broke, so we knew we needed to get out right away."
The Organ family moved as much as they could from their farm, including fourteen dogs and five horses.
The other five counties considered disaster areas are Coles, Clark, Crawford, Cumberland and Jasper.
