Perry County prepares for rising floodwaters

The Perry County Emergency Operations Center was activated Monday in response to the rising Mississippi River along the Bois Brule Levee District.

As of late Monday afternoon, the National Weather Service was projecting the river to crest Thursday at 49.9 feet, which would be a record at Chester, Illinois, according to a news release from the Perry County Commission.

The Perry County Levee District Board, Perry County Commission and emergency management office and the Missouri Department of Transportation closed one lane of traffic on Highway 51 along the Mississippi River Bridge connecting Chester and Perry County, Illinois, in preparation to close the Bois Brule Levee on the Missouri side of the river, the release stated.

The Perry County Emergency Operations Center anticipates the bridge will close at noon Tuesday.

"We have coordinated with the MoDOT, Army Corps of Engineers, Missouri State Highway Patrol and all Perry County emergency agencies to implement the emergency plan created by Bois Brule Levee District to minimize property damage and to ensure the safety of those directly impacted by the rising water," Perry County EOC director Hank Voelker said in the release. "We are advising only local and authorized traffic beyond the Highway 51 and Main Street intersection in Perryville."

Perry County Sheriff Gary Schaaf said officials over the weekend were advising residents to move anything they wanted to save out of the area, based on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' river-level and crest predictions.

As part of that effort, the sheriff's department helped Sabreliner Aviation in Perryville, Missouri, move four planes ­-- one fighter jet, two corporate jets and one turboprop -- to higher ground at McBride, Missouri.

"It doesn't look good," Schaaf said of the flooding. "It's really going to be close. But we'll hope for the best and plan for the worst."

kwebster@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3646

Pertinent address:

Perry County, MO

1390 State Hwy H, Perryville, MO 63775