Major highways in South Central Illinois are mostly clear with a few isolated icy spots on untreated roads. The Illinois Department of Transportation reports scattered ice and snow cover from Fayette County all the way to the Chicago area. There are still some roads in the central part of the state that are listed as ice and snow-covered.
Meanwhile, water levels in area creeks and along the Kaskaskia College continue to drop. Only one gate of Raccoon Lake is open five inches after two gates had been opened on Thursday to get rid of excess water from the three-inch rainfall across the region that proceeded the sleet and snow. The level in the Salem Reservoir is also down considerably from Thursday morning when it was 17 inches above the spillway, just an inch short of a flood watch being issued for Town Creek running through Salem.
Most grade and high schools were already closed Friday for a virtual teacher’s institute. Kaskaskia College has announced their main campus and all extension centers are closed. Students are asked to check their canvas shells for instructions.
Official two-day rain totals for the Salem Water Plant were 2.99 inches and at the Centralia Water Plant 3.09 inches.
At last report, the roads in the Crooked Creek Bottoms south of Salem and Odin were all flooded. The Patoka Township Road Commissioner reports roads crossing the North Fork and Flat Creek bottoms are still flooded.
