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Weather Alert

Weather Alert

.Showers and storms have produced 2 to 5 inches of rainfall across
most of the Quad State since Wednesday. A few isolated zones have
received as much as 8 inches as of early this morning. Another 4 to
8 inches of rainfall forecast through Sunday will result in a
particularly dangerous flooding and flash flooding situation.

...FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING...

* WHAT...Flash flooding and flooding caused by excessive rainfall is
expected. With 2 to 8 inches already fallen and another 4 to 8
inches forecast, a particularly dangerous situation is likely to
develop.

* WHERE...All of southern Illinois, southwest Indiana, western
Kentucky, and southeast Missouri.

* WHEN...Through Sunday morning.

* IMPACTS...
...This is a particularly dangerous situation...

Excessive runoff may result in flooding of rivers, creeks, streams,
and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Creeks and streams
may rise out of their banks. Low-water crossings may be flooded.
Extensive street flooding may develop. Flooding may occur in homes,
businesses and other locations not normally subject to flooding.
Roadways may wash away near creeks and culverts.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...
- Multiple rounds of locally heavy rainfall over several days
will result in extreme forecast amounts of over 1 foot of
rain that will cause the risk of flash flooding and flooding
to rise markedly and create a particularly dangerous flooding
situation.


PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Monitor later forecasts and be alert for Flash Flood and Flood
Warnings. Be prepared to take action when flooding develops.

&&

Weather Alert

...The National Weather Service in Paducah KY has issued a Flood
Warning for the following rivers in Illinois...

Big Muddy River near Plumfield affecting Williamson and Franklin
Counties.

Big Muddy River near Murphysboro affecting Jackson County.

.A multi-day heavy rain is headed toward the region lasting through
Saturday. Three days of rainfall is incorporated into the forecast
but it still does not include the entire event. The Big Muddy River
has started to rise and increases in crest forecasts can be
expected. Now is the time to prepare for major flooding.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood
deaths occur in vehicles.

Motorists should not attempt to drive around barricades or drive
cars through flooded areas.

Caution is urged when walking near riverbanks.

Be especially cautious at night when it is harder to recognize the
dangers of flooding.

Additional information is available at www.weather.gov.

&&

...FLOOD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM LATE FRIDAY NIGHT UNTIL FURTHER
NOTICE...

* WHAT...Moderate flooding is forecast.

* WHERE...Big Muddy River near Plumfield.

* WHEN...From late Friday night until further notice.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS...
- At 10:30 AM CDT Thursday the stage was 12.5 feet.
- Forecast...The river will rise above flood stage early
Saturday morning to 30.7 feet early Monday afternoon. It will
then fall early Wednesday morning. It will rise to 30.2 feet
Wednesday evening. It will then fall again but remain above
flood stage.
- Flood stage is 20.0 feet.


&&

Omicron spreads rapidly throughout the US

  • Updated
  • 0
omicron variant

(WSIL)---The WHO named Omicron as a variant of concern on November 26th.

Less than a month later, the CDC says Omicron makes up about 73% of cases in the US. 

"It was just a few weeks ago that we were beginning to hear of this new variant of COVID that was coming out of South Africa and quickly spread into the UK and portions of Europe. And now here we are now, we just discovered a couple weeks ago that we had omicron cases here in the United States," said Nathan Ryder, Community Outreach Coordinator from ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý Seven Health Department. 

December first saw the US's first omicron case.

The CDC now reports that 46 states have at least one case of the variant.

"It's so infectious, if there's massive outbreaks throughout the country, I would be shocked if it's not here already, and I suspect that if it is not here, it will be in the next couple weeks," said SIH Herrin Hospital's Medical Director of Emergency Department, Dr. Josh Miksanek.

And this variant spreads significantly quicker than the previous strains, with cases doubling every 1.5 to 3 days.

The Delta variant, which filled ICUs across the country, doubles every 7 days.

"So this is much easily transmissible and it's going to run through the broader public much quicker than Delta has," said Ryder. 

Vaccines are expected to protect against hospitalizations and severe illness, but breakthrough cases are likely to occur.

"We're kinda seeing a potential wave coming at us like we did in the early days of COVID but we have tools to lessen the impact of that wave as it's coming towards us," said Ryder. 

Cases are rising slightly in Illinois, and in Region 5, there are 7 ICU beds available out of 77 in the region.

While these beds are not filled exclusively for COVID patients, Omicron's transmission rates could make those numbers shrink faster than what we saw with Delta.

Health officials say there is an easy way to help make hospitalizations go down, even with Omicron.

"Get yourself vaccinated, and hopefully we can avoid getting hit with a huge wave of COVID cases as omicron spreads across the country," said Ryder. 

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