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Metropolis Uses Each Weather Emergency As A Learning Lesson

Benjy Jeffords
/
WSIU
Flooding in Metropolis, Ill.

Metropolis has seen many flood events over the years and takes steps to keep everyone safe. They check the water level and roads daily for increasing levels. When you live close to a river you know at some point the river will get up to your backyard. The city of Metropolis knows this all too well.

“We’ve had two major ice storms that were a hundred-year event, we’ve had two major floods that were hundred-year events, we’ve had tornados, wind shears storms.”

Mayor Billy McDaniel says with everyone of these events, the city uses them as a learning lesson.

“Every time you have one of these events and this one is not as bad as 2011, we’re already making notes, believe me it may be next year it may be 5 years but there will be another event on that river.”

The river will crest on the first Saturday in March, luckily it’s going to be 2 feet lower than the flood of 2011.

McDaniel says even though the damage is less the city will have to pay for the cleanup and repairs out of their own budget. 

This may cause them to have to shuffle some money around because the city’s biggest employer is closed because of the floo

“They’ll be closed probably for 3 weeks at least, so that’s income there that we’re not going to have.”

The river is estimated to start receding after the first week of March.

Copyright 2019 WSIU Public Radio. To see more, visit WSIU Public Radio.

 

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