Cairo evacuation ends

CAIRO, IL (KRCU) - The mandatory evacuation of Cairo, Illinois is now over.

Mayor Tyrone Coleman announced that residents can begin return to homes and businesses can re-open.

The city has been under a mandatory evacuation since May 2.

River levels at Cairo have fallen since the detonation of the Birds Point Levee in Southeast Missouri. The city’s streets are still pockmarked by large sand boils.

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Cairo remains under mandatory evacuation

CAIRO, IL (KRCU) - Cairo, Illinois is still under a mandatory evacuation. 

Ohio and Mississippi River levels are falling outside of Cairo’s flood walls. But sand boils continue to plague the community’s streets.

Residents can return to Cairo to check homes and property between the hours of 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., but they cannot stay overnight.

Lifelong resident Kenny Simelton left Cairo two weeks ago. Looking over a series of sinkholes, he wonders if the city’s foundation is structurally sound.

“Is the city safe at all? I mean, you know, if they fix this hole, will it collapse again? Will there be an area that collapses? Who knows? I dunno,” Simelton asks.

Cairo has been under a mandatory evacuation since May 1 due to massive flooding on the Ohio and Mississippi.

In a written statement, Cairo mayor Tyrone Coleman urged residents to respect the evacuation order … saying that the city of Cairo is still unsafe.

Despite this, there are some signs of life returning to normal.

Pharmacist Fran Sherrill packed everything from her shop into a moving truck before the evacuation on May 1st. Now she and her employees are cleaning the windows and restocking her shelves as residents trickle back into town.

“Well obviously we’re a pharmacy and a medical necessity. We’re not a luxury for these people. We’re an absolute necessity for their lives and their livelihood. We thought that we needed to get back as soon as they let us back in here,” Sherrill said.

Jacob McCleland, KRCU

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Governor Quinn considers mandatory evacuations

MARION, IL (WSIU) - Residents in several southern Illinois communities are voluntarily evacuating as flood waters continue to rise to potentially historic levels.

During a visit to the State Command Center in Marion Thursday, Governor Pat Quinn says depending on how high the flood waters get, he would not rule out mandatory evacuations for severely flooded areas in southern Illinois.

“We have to make sure that the levees hold if they are in any danger of breaching. And if water is coming towards people in a way that’s life threatening, we will have mandatory evacuation. That’s why we deployed more National Guard service members,” Quinn said.

Quinn activated an additional 200 Illinois National Guard Troops on Thursday to help in the flood fight. That means over 320 guardsmen have been activated throughout southern Illinois...with a heavy emphasis on Alexander and Gallatin counties.

Brad Palmer, WSIU

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