Flood — Lawrence, Illinois

2008-06-08 to 2008-06-20 · near Klondyke, Lawrence, Illinois

Event narrative

Heavy rainfall caused record flooding on the Embarras River at Lawrenceville. The river reached a level of 42.3 feet at 2325 CST on 6/9. This resulted in the breach of at least 4 levees on the Embarras and Wabash Rivers which produced widespread flooding in eastern Lawrence County. In the town of Lawrenceville, 158 homes had water in the first floor living area, while 48 others reported water in the basement. In addition, 8 businesses had in excess of 5 feet of water. Lawrence County was declared a disaster area due to the flooding.

Wider weather episode

Due to very heavy rain that fell across east-central and southeast Illinois from 6/6 through 6/8, both the Embarras and Wabash rivers overflowed their banks, breaching several levees. As a result, widespread flooding occurred across eastern Lawrence County, with over 75 square miles affected.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (38.8397, -87.7780)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 120994. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.