"Evacuate Now" Illinois Residents Told To Flee As Dam Failure Imminent

Residents in Nashville City, Illinois were ordered to "evacuate now" on Tuesday ahead of an imminent dam failure.

"Attention ... the Failure of the Nashville dam is imminent. Please evacuate your home at this time. If you are in the grey box, you need [to] evacuate now!" said the Washington County Emergency Management Agency on Facebook.

According to officials, the Nashville City Reservoir Dam "has been overtopped with flood waters."

"The Red Cross has been activated," officials said in a separate post, adding that a shelter was being used in Nashville's West Walnut Street.

Please keep Nashville, IL (Washington County) on your radar.. we have evacuation’s ongoing due to the dam failing. It doesn’t look like the rain is stopping anytime soon. I’m waiting to get updates on the AC, I believe it is on higher ground.
*Photos off of Washington Co Talk pic.twitter.com/ATw3LQTOjc
— Shayna🌸 (@shaynator3) July 16, 2024

As the Epoch Times notes further, The evacuation was taking place in Nashville, located in Washington County, Illinois, around 50 miles southeast of St. Louis.

Washington County was under a flash flood warning until 1:45 p.m. ET, according to the National Weather Service (NWS). So far, between 2 to 6 inches of rain has fallen in the area over the past 24 hours, and additional totals of 0.3 inches to 1 inch are possible for the warned area, officials said, adding that “life-threatening” flooding is ongoing.

“Flash flooding is ongoing,” the NWS wrote. “Illinois State Police reported I-64 closed in both directions between mile markers 50 and 61.”

DAM BREAKS: This photo is from a resident in Nashville, IL, who tells the I-Team she’s just a couple houses away from where people are being told to evacuate. She sees the flood waters getting closer and closer to her home. @ksdknews pic.twitter.com/Xdz10YntWa
— Paula Vasan (she/her) (@PaulaVasan) July 16, 2024

Earlier Tuesday, Alex Haglund with the Washington County management agency told local news outlet KSDK-TV that a secondary dam on the reservoir had failed, which was also confirmed by the Emergency Management Agency in its statement.

The Nashville population stood at about 3,100 people during the last census.

The rain that was part of a series of storms that swept across the state was part of a larger system that led to tornadoes and tornado warnings in other areas, including Des Moines, Iowa, as well as the Chicago area.

By 12 p.m. local time, some 215,000 customers were without power in Illinois, according to PowerOutage.us.

The Chicago Fire Department said on the social media site X that there was only one serious injury in the nation’s third-largest city, a person who was hurt when a tree fell on a car. Also, Chicago’s O'Hare International Airport reported 81 flight cancellations as of Tuesday morning, and Midway International Airport reported eight cancellations.

In Joliet, Illinois, 35 miles southwest of Chicago, authorities said many roads were blocked by trees. The storms also cut power to thousands in Ohio and Pennsylvania and caused damage to property, tree, and power lines. No injuries were reported.

This is a breaking news story. The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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