By Arnold Wyrick - bio | email
OLD SHAWNEETOWN, IL (KFVS) -The rising waters of the Ohio River are causing a ripple across Southern Illinois.
And now all of the residents of Illinois' oldest city are being asked to leave their homes and head for dryer ground.
"We're full here in 'Old Town' right now there's no place for the flood waters to go," said Mayor Chris Oldham.
So another three inches and we're going to have water over all the streets, over everyone property. So it's time to go."
The evacuation is voluntary at this time. But, some residents weren't taking any chances they were packing up their belongings and heading to higher ground.
"Well we're just trying to move some necessities and things we feel like needs to be moved out, just in case the water gets high enough to destroy it," said Laurence Randall.
Even those people who only call Old Shawneetown home on a part-time basis were packing up their homes.
"We've heard the river report and we're moving our campers out before the water gets too high. And gets in them and ruins them," said Pam Brazier.
Now it's a race against the river, as the rains continue to fall and flood waters begin creeping into Old Shawneetown.
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