GRAFTON, Ill. – The Mississippi River crested in Grafton, Illinois, Thursday morning, reaching about 23.5 feet, putting the town in minor flood stage.
Mayor Michael Morrow said Grafton floods every year since they don’t have levees, but while this was a little bit more than routine, it’s nothing to worry about.
“We’ve got the areas that are flooded, but everything else in Grafton is open. The main streets are open,” he said. “The only street that is under water is aptly named and is called Water Street. But what that does for us is that we’re going to get this water out of here within about the next two weeks and then we’ll be back to normal.”
Morrow attended an online meeting comprised of 31 mayors along the river, along with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Army Corp of Engineers. He said the outlooks look pretty good.
“One of the things that they expressed on here was from where we are all the way down to Baton Rouge, is that this rainfall that they’ve had early on in the upper is actually good for the Mississippi,” Morrow said. “We started out this year with drought. We no longer have drought in the middle Mississippi or the lower Mississippi. So that’s good news.”
Peter Allen, owner of the Loading Dock, echoes the mayor’s message that Grafton is fully open. He said their phone is always ringing due to the high river levels.
“I don’t blame them for calling, they’re driving an average of 30 to 40 minutes to get here,” he said. “The water’s high but as you’ll see in some of these pictures, it’s just closer and prettier to look at.”
While they’ve thankfully been able to stay open, it was a bit of a close call with the original forecast.
“With the original prediction, it was a lot higher than it ever got, so we were in DEFCON 4—ready to move out—then they lowered it significantly and we’re good,” Allen said. “It’s life on the river. You know we’re always ready for it and it’s never a flash flood, so we have time to plan.”
And the outlook moving forward is positive.
“Grafton is fully open, and the Loading Dock is waiting to see you guys,” Allen said.
