VALMEYER, Ill. — A voluntary evacuation order is still in effect in Valmeyer, Illinois. While the Army Corps of Engineers no longer thinks the Mississippi River will overtop the levees in Monroe County, a new threat is emerging: sand boils.
"Water that comes up underneath the levee because of pressure on the other side of the levee," Kevin Scheibe with the Monroe County EMA explained.
A sand boil in nearby Harrisonville, Illinois, turned a large area that is usually a farm into a lake.
The need for sandbags grows as these boils keep popping up.
"Kids and adults, and a little chance to mingle in a kind of way," volunteer Steve Bergheger said.
“Coach,” as his athletes in nearby Waterloo call him, doesn't live in Valmeyer, but like so many in this community has loved ones in the flooding cross-hairs.
"My son-in-law’s parents, they’ve already cleared out," Bergheger said.
Bergheger was part of the crew sandbagging above ground. The other half worked about a mile inside one of Rock City's cavernous former quarries.
"It’s a controlled environment. It doesn’t matter if it’s 110 degrees outside or 50 degrees. It’s constantly 55 degrees [inside the caves]," Scheibe explained.
For the last decade, Monroe County has used the old quarry cave as storage. But on Wednesday it doubled as a sandbagging workshop. You quickly learn no job is unimportant.
Thankfully, when a place like Valmeyer is under siege, they have an army at the ready.
"It goes to show you how close we are," said Scheibe.
Officials in Monroe County said they’re going to keep sandbagging for as long as they have volunteers. So far, they have about 15,000 sandbags ready to go. Their goal is to get to 30,000 because it’s been a busy flood season.
Other flood-related stories:
- Flooding closes roads, adds commute time for frustrated drivers
- 'Both toilets are overflowing': Flooding affects mobile home park in St. Charles
- Swarms of pests take over St. Louis following flooding and storms
- 8 shelters open across Missouri for flood, tornado victims
- Flooding in Bellefontaine Neighbors submerges park, threatens nearby homes
- River Des Peres flooding causes apartment evacuations in St. Louis County
- Volunteers in Grafton build more floodwalls after pump fails