Flood watch continues

Emergency officials continue to keep a close eye on the rising flood waters on the Fox River and Chain O' Lakes, and distributing sandbags to areas in need.

Fox Lake Emergency Services Disaster Agency Coordinator Ed Lescher said the he hasn't received any emergency phone calls Saturday and that only a couple of pallets of sandbags have been delivered to people in need.

"We're keeping an eye on it and it's going to get higher," he said. "But there's really nothing we can do about it."

He said about 50 homes have water on their properties, but less than a dozen have flood damage at this point.

Currently, water levels are about a foot and a half over flood levels, but only about 3 inches over the point where homes in low-lying areas are damaged.

Lake County officials estimated Friday the Chain would rise an additional 8 inches today, but that amount depends on rainfall forecasted to fall over the system in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois.

National Weather Service has predicted at least a 70 percent chance of light rain to fall throughout the day Saturday.

Water levels in New Munster, Wis., are about 3 feet over flood levels Saturday, but seem to be cresting. Weather officials predicted it would rise another foot, but that also depended on the amount of rainfall recorded up north.

If the Fox River in New Munster crests today, the Chain is expected to crest Monday morning.

Lee Shannon, head of Antioch's Emergency Services Disaster Agency, said there is scattered flooding throughout Antioch, but that for the most part, things are doing well.

"We have about a dozen homes in the low lying areas that are surrounded by water, but it looks like everything is holding up so far," he said.

He added Fox River Gardens in Antioch Township seems to have the worst flooding at this point, but the water was held off mostly because of a huge sandbag effort by residents and volunteer sailors bused in from Great Lakes Naval Center.

"Let's just hope we do not get more rain than predicted," he said. "If not, we should be in pretty good shape."