Nashville, Ill., Dam Failure ‘Imminent,’ Evacuations Ordered

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(TNS) — Emergency crews are racing to evacuate residents in Nashville, Ill., after a series of dam breaches in the area.

“Attention The Failure of the Nashville dam is imminent,” the Washington County Emergency Management Agency warned in a Facebook post Tuesday. “Please evacuate your home at this time.”

The order included a map, highlighting the neighborhoods that are most at risk. Officials also confirmed on Facebook that a local nursing home inside the designated area will not be evacuated at this time.

The first breach came around 9:30 a.m., KSDK reported. Some 15 minutes later, Alex Haglund, a spokesperson for the emergency management agency, confirmed a second breach had occurred.

A shelter is currently being set up for evacuees at 680 W Walnut St. in Nashville.

Officials have warned residents outside the specified danger zone against leaving their homes at this time. Instead they’ve been encouraged to wait for word from first responders and emergency crews before they make any moves.

The Washington County Emergency Management Agency said it has made 299 phone calls to deliver the evacuation order. The efforts have since grown to include emergency agencies across the area, among them St. Clair County Special Emergency Services, St. Clair County EMA and fire departments from Freeburg, New Athens, Marissa, Smithton and St. Libory.

Officials are also going door to door, assisting and instructing residents on what steps they can take to ensure their safety.

The warning comes as intense rainfall batters the area, so far dumping between 5 and 7 inches of water over the course of just six hours. Homes and businesses have been overwhelmed with flood water and roads have been transformed into rivers, including portions of Illinois Route 15 and Interstate 64.

All major routes through the area are closed as of late Tuesday morning, and at least one person was left trapped inside their home, Haglund said.

“If you can avoid traveling in that area, it would certainly help the first responders,” said Joe Monroe with the Illinois Department of Transportation. “We are actually moving back where we are closing everything where we give the evacuation time to move forward.”

The National Weather Service on Tuesday also upgraded flash flood warnings in Washington and Clinton counties to “considerable” flash flood warnings. That means the flooding that is occurring should be considered dangerous rather than a nuisance, the NWS said.

Forecasters warned several more rounds of rain are expected, which could bring another 3 inches of flood water to the region.

Nashville, a city of about 3,000 residents, is about 55 miles east of St. Louis.