The Deseret News, MormonTimes.com reports that Nauvoo is on flood watch:
Volunteers are filling sandbags in and around Nauvoo, Ill., to protect historic church landmarks in the event of flooding on the Mississippi River.
The National Weather Service issued flood warnings for areas along the Mississippi that stretch through Illinois and Missouri.
BYU Folk Dancers, young performing missionaries, young sister missionaries, Nauvoo Restoration Incorporated employees and missionaries, and Illinois Nauvoo senior missionaries are working together to fill sandbags and protect the historic Nauvoo house and Niota, a small neighboring community.
The area of Nauvoo closest to the Mississippi river is dotted with historic buildings originally built by Mormon settlers in the early 1800s. Restoration projects are operated by both The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Communities of Christ church.
There are also some incredible photos of the rising waters, that are coming periously close to the Historic Nauvoo House and other areas of Nauvoo.
The caption to his photo, which you can find at this Weather Underground page reads:
Statement as of 9:35 PM CDT on June 16, 2008 … Flood Warning remains in effect until further notice… The Flood Warning continues for the Mississippi River at Keokuk ld19. * Until further notice. * At 8:00 PM Monday the stage was 26.0 feet… and falling. * Major flooding is occurring and record flooding is forecast. * Recent activity… the river is currently falling due to a levee failure near Gregory Landing. * Flood stage is 16 feet. * Forecast… rise to 28.4 feet Wednesday evening… then begin falling. * Impact… at 27 feet… water affects residences in Nauvoo and reaches the top of the levee protecting the historical Nauvoo house. 935 PM CDT Mon Jun 16 2008 … Flood Warning remains in effect until further notice… The Flood Warning continues for the Mississippi River at Burlington. * Until further notice. * At 9:00 PM Monday the stage was 25.4 feet… and rising. * Record flooding is occurring. * Flood stage is 15 feet. * Forecast… rise to 26.0 feet Tuesday evening… then begin falling. * Impact… at 26 feet… water reaches the top of the Gulfport town levee.
Another interesting one–Brigham, where’d the road go?
Here’s a link to the Weather Undergound site that has several such photos. I don’t know how far the Temple is from the river banks, perhaps some who are more familiar with the Nauvoo geography can fill in on that. Prayers and hope for everyone impacted by the midwest flooding.
More Links:
News From Nauvoo–a Blog focusing on Nauvoo News has a good write up and more great photos.
Dave over at Times and Seasons has this post: Mississippi Rising, with a link the the Church Website that has an article and photos as well.
Update 6/19/08: In an email published on the Mormon Library Yahoo Group, someone named Joseph, who apparently lives in or near Nauvoo wrote this update:
The levy in Nauvoo is doing just fine. There is only one around the
Nauvoo House, and it does not appear to be in any danger. As the picture
shows with Randy’s link, there has been some minor seepage, but actually
less than what will gather after a rainstorm. Because of Nauvoo’s unique
topographical situation, there is rarely any danger to any of the
historic structures from the river. The Mississippi has crept across
Water St in a couple of places, but that’s because it’s Water St. There
is actually a naturally formed lip (or levy, if you prefer) around
Nauvoo, making the riverbank higher than several places on the flats. I
don’t know if anyone else finds this interesting, but my dad was a
geologist, so I’m really hip on this kind of junk.Anyway, levies have failed roughly 25 miles north and 40 miles south of
Nauvoo, and because of that, what was predicted to be the worst flood
ever, topping the Flood of 1993 by at least 2 feet, has abated. Here in
Hamilton, the water level fell about 18 inches today, when it was
actually supposed to crest late tonight/early tomorrow a foot higher
than what it got.The bridges that are closest to Nauvoo (Ft Madison, IA – Niota, IL and
Keokuk, IA – Hamilton, IL) are continually opening and closing. Here in
Hamilton, the 6-man Dept. of Transportation crew thinks that they have
gotten the upper hand, and should be able to keep this bridge open now,
with one lane going in each direction. The westbound lanes on the IL
approach were completely covered, over the tops of the concrete
barriers, and the eastbound lanes were piled up with rock and gravel an
additional 2-3 feet or so. And yes, that was done by a six (6) man crew
from Springfield, IL, of the DOT. The only National Guard troops that
we have had here have been Iowa NG in Keokuk coming across the river to
peek at how things are going. Our guys are, you guessed it, deployed in
Iraq. Anyway, these DOT guys have been incredible. They have worked on
our bridge all night, every night, since Saturday, and during the day
they go up to Niota to work on that bridge. I don’t know how they are
still alive.The Ft. Madison bridge has been having trouble at both ends. Niota is a
town that sits at or below the water level of the Mississippi during
normal times, so they have a 4 foot levy around the town that has had to
be sandbagged thoroughly. The Ft Madison side was not sandbagged,
resulting in a pool of water approximately 100 yards at the base of the
bridge. That is the main reason why it keeps opening and closing. It is
interesting to see how the two states prioritized things. Iowa deemed
Keokuk to be a more important site, and so sent their DOT and National
Guard there, while essentially abandoning Fort Madison, while Illinois
saw the Hamilton-Keokuk bridge as secondary in importance to the town of
Niota (pop 150 on Friday nights when the bar is full). Keokuk has a lock
and dam, and their city’s water plant is down by the river, while FM
only has a War of 1812 fort, railroad tracks, a gas station, tourist
information center and a floating casino along about a mile of
riverfront.Some exciting news that makes those of us who know what kind of people
live in Warsaw chuckle (think Idaho, Wyoming, Texas and Jerry Springer’s
guests all rolled into one). Warsaw has a grain elevator that is right
down at the water’s edge, like so many other towns along the
Mississippi. The owners of the elevator took a look at their silos and
said, “Naw, they’ll be safe. Theyz made uh concrete,” and did no
sandbagging, or even taking the corn out of the silos. Well, as the
water rose, it seeped through the silos. As it seeped through the silos,
it got in to the corn. As the dry corn began to absorb all this water,
it did what things typically do when they are dried out and then
rehydrated—they swelled up. Well, as you can imagine, it didn’t take
too damned long for that corn to run out of room to expand, and
“kaboom!” Two of the six concrete silos collapsed.I have to apologize for not being able to give pictures. The batteries
on my camera died while I was out and about. I’ll try again tomorrow.Joseph
If I find more photos I will post them as well.
June 18, 2008 at 9:58 am
Fortunately, the temple and the modern town of Nauvoo are located on the bluff about 100 feet above the river banks. I don’t remember noticing any levees at all around the flats where old town Nauvoo is – its seems like the river is just sitting there.
June 18, 2008 at 10:30 am
Mormons all over the country are concerned about Nauvoo. Please keep bloging and keep us informed. I pray that everyone will be safe.
Above all…..let God’s will be done.
Mike Cornett, Vt. Vernon, Il.
June 18, 2008 at 11:25 am
Thanks for the updates, Guy. I appreciate your earnestness.
I didn’t really think about the consequence of the floods on Church history sites until I heard a report indicating that Quincey, IL was threatened. Then it hit me …
June 18, 2008 at 11:47 am
The temple is quite a ways from the river and, more importantly, higher, on a hill. However, I adore the old historical Nauvoo area and hope they can keep the flooding back.
June 18, 2008 at 12:02 pm
I lived in Nauvoo for several years. Nauvoo’s situation is a bit different than that of the surrounding communities, when it comes to potential flooding. In the 1993 flood (one foot lower than the worst projections for this year), the Nauvoo House was basically the only Nauvoo structure endangered, and sandbagging protected it. Even when nearby Niota is in flood-panic-mode, Nauvoo typically just gets some comparatively minor flooding on Water Street (right alongside the river) and the very end of Parley Street (near the statues depicted above). As a result, many Nauvoo residents volunteer to help sandbag in Niota during these threats, as the article mentions. Right now, I’m very concerned about my good friends in Niota, who’s home and business are likely to suffer damage.
As someone else mentioned, the temple and the vast majority of Nauvoo’s homes and businesses are on the bluffs, well beyond any Mississippi flooding. Reports of sandbagging surely reflect caution, but they shouldn’t be taken to mean that the historical properties on the Nauvoo Flats are in any enormous danger. Nauvoo simply doesn’t get hit by floodwaters in the same way that Niota (9 miles north) or Keokuk/Hamilton/Warsaw (12 miles south) do. The only residential area of Nauvoo that could be flooded is actually north of the city limits, consisting of several homes built right on the riverbank. I suspect some of them are already having problems.
I’ve also checked with a good friend who lives in Hamilton. The biggest problem right now in Nauvoo is that the “Great River Road” between Nauvoo and Keokuk/Hamilton is flooded out. That road is the major access between Nauvoo and the only currently-open bridge to Iowa within a hundred miles or more. There is a major “back road,” but it is under major construction at this time, so Nauvoo residents who need groceries (or in some cases, need to go to work) are having to take some very circuitous routes, if they can get to their destinations at all. Once anyone reaches the bridge at Keokuk, it’s down to one traffic lane, so wait times are up to an hour to cross.
June 18, 2008 at 5:25 pm
didn’t know where else to say this, but we spent a week trying to save 25,000 acres of farmland north of Burlington — up the road from Nauvoo — and had several elders assisting us with sandbagging. If the levee would have broken it would have helped nauvoo, but still, they helped us. (as of now, we’re holding.)
Thanks from Iowa
June 18, 2008 at 10:24 pm
Thanks all for your comments, and insights, particularly those who are knowledgable about the city and what is or what is not at risk. Hopefully the river will crest quickly with a minimum of damage.
June 19, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Thanks for this information; I appreciate it very much.
June 20, 2008 at 10:46 am
I am going to Nauvoo on Saturday morning with a couple of friends. We called the visitor center there and they said that they are still in good shape in Nauvoo and that roads coming from Quincy area are all still opened.
Thank you to all for keeping us updated on that area.
June 20, 2008 at 10:05 pm
I am a member of the Community of Christ (RLDS)Church; I was an RLDS student historic guide in Nauvoo the summer of 1984 and I love Nauvoo & the history/heritage that we share there with the LDS. I recently found a video link from KSL-TV in Utah showing LDS & RLDS folks in Nauvoo working together to protect the historic sites there, even though the endangered bldgs are on RLDS property; it was very moving to watch, and comforting to know that the historic sites are being protected by efforts of people there from both churches…..THANKS!
D. Brown, Reno, NV
July 7, 2008 at 8:01 am
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