By Angela Hatton
Paducah, KY – The Ohio River is expected to drop about three feet by the end of the week. National Weather Service forecaster David Blanchard says the river at Paducah will likely be around 51 feet by Friday. That's out of major flooding stage, but still touching the floodwall downtown. The river at Cairo is set to drop to between 55 and 56 feet this week, still in major flood stage. Blanchard says it's going to be a slow fall on the Ohio and Mississippi.
"It just takes a while for that huge volume of water to finally make its way down the river. And um, it's like turning a large ship around. It takes a while."
Blanchard says rain in the forecast for Thursday will be minor. He predicts around a tenth of an inch in most areas, not enough to change the flood levels. Paducah Public Information Officer Pam Spencer says the city will wait until the river is well into the 40s before officials order the removal of the floodgates. Spencer says they want to make sure the water doesn't start going up again.