By Jacque Day
Lower Ohio River – The Ohio River at Metropolis is expected to crest sometime today. Mayor Billy McDaniel's office reports, manholes have become displaced and present an extreme hazard, just one reason to avoid driving or walking through standing water.
Southern Illinois is housing flood victims at three locations open to the public. The Metropolis Community Center on West 10th Street in Metropolis and Vienna High School on North 1st Street in Vienna are both still accepting new residents. The Waldo Baptist Church shelter has no vacancies at this time.
Downriver in Cairo, authorities are allowing residents to check on their properties. Cairo police Chief Gary Hankins says residents are allowed back into town today, but must leave right away and can't stay the night. The mandatory evacuation order that issued April 30 remains in effect.
As the flood risk intensifies southward on the Mississippi River, National Guards and state troopers are preparing residents in west Tennessee's Lake and Obion counties for the river's crest around Sunday.