The river is expected to reach 49.7 feet at Shawneetown, Ill., Thursday. That's well above the 33-foot flood stage. When the river gets near 47 feet, it's lapping over the highway at Sawmill Hollow between Tolu and Elizabethtown Landing as it was Monday. It's also threatening barns, basements and homes in the low-lying areas right around Water Street in Tolu.
In 2005, a few months before Tolu Grocery Store closed for good, I took the following river level information off of a yellowing piece of paper hanging on the wall at the store. The late Tom Sherer started the list and others kept it up over the years. It tells the year and the water level at Shawnteetown when the river crested.
A River's History (Year and Crest Level)
| 1913: 61.5 1937: 68.4 1945: 58.4 1950: 58.6 1962: 53.0 1963: 55.3 1964: 56.4 1972: 50.7 | 1975: 52.5 1977: 50.3 1979: 54.7 1991: 53.7 1995: 49.6 1996: 50.2 1997: 54.5 2005: 54.0 |
