LDS members working to save historic Nauvoo from floods
KSL News
June 18th, 2008 @ 10:07pm
by Sam Penrod

"The failure of a levee in Illinois has aggravated the situation there, and the water keeps getting closer to LDS historic sites. Flood preparations have been underway in Nauvoo, Ill., but the critical concern tonight is 40 miles down the river in Quincy, Ill.

In what is beginning to look like a repeat of the floods of 1993, Missouri and Illinois are dealing with the worst flooding in more than a decade. The Mississippi river is at 15 feet above flood stage in this area of the Midwest.

Those who helped in the effort to secure the sites included people working for Nauvoo Restoration Incorporated, missionaries serving in Nauvoo, and members of the BYU Folk Dancers."

It looks like we really dodged a bullet.  If our trip had been one week later, we would have probably been coerced into sandbagging against the Mississippi.  And perhaps more tragically, we might have missed the BYU Folk Dancers.  The water levels were pretty high while we were there (as evidenced by the drowning trees in the background), but we only saw a few areas that had actually been sandbagged.  It looks like it's gotten much worse over the last few days.