Roads closed due to flooding

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[By Sabrina Harris, Publisher

According to the Randolph County Sheriff's Department as of 11 a.m. on Monday, April 25, the additional roads were closed in the county including: Prairie Oil Road Chester - County Farm road at the bridge, Kaskaskia Street in front of Menard Correctional Center, Riley Lake Road between Chester and Ellis Grove

Chester by-pass from ConAgra to Bridge Road-Chester; Steelville - Locust Road at Massachutes Street and the Sewer Plant, Sub Station Road, Ball Park Road south of Steeleville.

State Route 3 in Rockwood is covered with water and was scheduled to be closed Tuesday afternoon.

Gateway FS in Evansville has halted grain purchases due to high has also been closed.

Nancy Schilling, Emergency Management Director, said she will be checking with road

districts again on Monday afternoon to see if their would be more road closures.

The U. S. Corp of Engineers St. Louis District River and Reservoir Daily Report on April 25, 2011 shows Chester River Stages were at 34.8 feet on Monday morning at 6 a.m. and by Tuesday at 6 a.m. they were to be up 1.6 feet and to be at 38.9 feet by Thursday, April 28. Flood Level at Chester is 27 feet which means by the time the river is scheduled to crest on Friday, April 29th it will be at 39.3 feet which is 12.3 feet above flood stage.

The Kaskaskia River was scheduled to Crest at Vandalia at 22.5 feet, 4.5 feet above flood stage on April 27th.

The National Weather Service St. Louis, Mo., had issued flash flood warnings for Randolph County that expired on Tuesday, April 26 with more rain in the forecast until Wednesday, April 27.

Hwy 51 right across the Mississippi River Bridge toward Perryville had water accross the road on Tuesday morning slowing traffic and many vehicles were turning around by 10 a.m. the road had been turned into one lane in that area.

See page 23 for additional information.