Flooding in Lake County, Fox Valley expected to worsen this weekend

It took six hours -- from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. -- last August for John Schmidtke to build a sandbag wall two feet high that kept floodwater out of his Fox River Springs home.

On Friday, it took him one hour, thanks to 50 sailors from Great Lakes who volunteered to help out.

"I am extremely happy and relieved to have this turnout," Schmidtke said, eyeing the sailors who came around 2 p.m. Friday. "I don't know how to do it, but I definitely want to show my gratitude to them."

People living in Schmidtke's Antioch Township subdivision off Route 173 on the Fox River worked overtime Friday to hold back water that rose about six inches over 12 hours Friday.

Kent McKenzie, Lake County Emergency Management coordinator, said the water will continue to rise through Sunday due to heavy rainfall in Wisconsin.

He expects the Fox River will rise an additional 18 inches between now and Sunday, when it will crest and slowly start to fall. The Chain O' Lakes will rise about 10 inches in the same time span before cresting.

"It wont be as brutal as last August, but it's going to rise and start damaging homes on the Fox River and the Chain," he said. "That's why we contacted the Naval station and asked if they could lend us some volunteers to come in and give us a hand."

The volunteers from Great Lakes -- who have already graduated from boot camp but are awaiting orders before moving on -- said they were happy with the change of scenery.

"This is better than cleaning the barracks," said a smiling Patrick Callahan, from South Carolina. "Honestly, it's nice for us to get outside and lend a hand to a community when they need us."

Antioch, Fox Lake and homes along the river have been on flood alert for the past week because of snow melts and heavy rainfall.

The high water has caused officials to close a few Fox Lake roads, such as Park Avenue and Knollwood Road.

With water levels expected to increase until at least Sunday, some flooding is certain. However, how much flooding will occur is unclear -- depending on any additional rain in the days ahead, the amount of rain in Wisconsin, and the amount of water that can be pushed through dams in McHenry and Algonquin.

Currently, the Chain is about 13 inches above flood stage and about one inch over the point where homes start being affected. It could rise nine more inches before the end of the weekend.

Ed Lescher, head of Fox Lake's Emergency Services Disaster Agency, said only a handful of homes are currently affected in low-lying subdivisions on the Chain, but that number could increase to 100 if predictions are correct.

Specifically, homes in King's Island subdivision off Route 12, Knollwood Park subdivision off Route 59 and homes on the water near the east side of Grand Avenue are worse off and need sandbagging.

"All we can do is give people sandbags when they call for them," he said. "We are filling them and distributing them as needed to people who ask for them."

Lee Shannon, head of the Antioch Emergency Services Disaster Agency, said four or five Antioch-area homes are surrounded by water. He said an additional 100 homes could be damaged should the water rise as much as feared.

"We are doing all we can to help out everyone," he said. "Right now, we are just watching it and sandbagging where needed."

Water levels in New Munster, Wis., were about three feet over flood stage late Friday. The National Weather Service says that could hit 4.5 feet over flood stage before it crests and drops.

Meanwhile, in Algonquin, crews are closely monitoring water levels, especially where the Fox River is already over the shoreline at Cornish Park and Filip Drive.

"We just want to take every precaution and make sure we're prepared, just in case," said Jenna Kollings, Algonquin's assistant village manager. "At this point it does seem to be stabilizing."

Still, the village's crews are keeping tabs on water levels upstream. "We watch that very closely because, obviously, that will come our way," said Kollings, adding they'll monitor the situation through the weekend.

Algonquin Township Road Commissioner Bob Miller said his crews are on alert, and have sent 3,000 sandbags to the village of Algonquin. He added there are plenty more for township residents in need.

West Dundee is also keeping careful watch on river levels. Fire Chief Frank Burhmann said everyone's a bit jumpy because of the difficulties last August.

"We are (jumpy) and rightfully so," Burhmann said. "Obviously it's a concern being a riverfront community."