Flooding likely to idle ferry Friday

Rising floodwaters on the Ohio River are likely to force the Cave-in-Rock Ferry to temporarily close Friday, March 5. The ferry normally has to halt service when the river reaches about 42.5 ft. on the Shawneetown gauge.

Based on Thursday's river forecast, the river will reach 42.2 ft. at 6 p.m., on Friday. The floodwaters are then expected to continue rising to 43.6 ft. by March 10.

Ferry operator Lonnie Lewis will look at the updated river forecast on Friday morning and attempt to provide a more specific estimate on when floodwaters will force the ferry to close.