Police are going door to door throughout Cairo, Ill., to clear out any remaining residents after the mayor issued a mandatory evacuation over flood concerns.
Law enforcement officers were going door-to-door Sunday throughout Cairo, Illinois, to give notice to any remaining residents that the mayor of Cairo, Judson Childs, issued a mandatory evacuation order as experts fear a 15-foot wall of water may flood the city by the time of the Ohio River flood crest on Tuesday.
The National Weather Service reports the Ohio River has reached record levels, but is still expected to crest in the southern Illinois city on Tuesday. Cairo is located near the confluence of the Ohio River and the Mississippi River, and is the southernmost city in Illinois — further south than most of the north-south length of Kentucky.
Police Chief Gary Hankins is uncertain how many citizens remain in the 2,800-resident southern Illinois city along the Ohio River and it wasn’t clear if those who do didn’t hear of the evacuation order or whether they are unwilling to leave.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is still considering whether to destroy a Missouri levee with controlled detonations in an effort to protect Cairo.
Flooding from the Ohio River at Harrah’s Casino in Metropolis, Illinois, just east of Cairo on April 27.
March 13th 2011 video showing water on Harrah’s Metropolis Illinois Casino parking lot. Harrah’s Metropolis Riverboat Casino is closed.