'Makes me a little nervous:' Jefferson rivers expected to crest above flood stage by early Tuesday

JEFFERSON -- Officials in Jefferson said Monday, Sept. 3 they're expecting the Rock River and Crawfish River to crest above flood stage by early Tuesday morning. The rivers meet just south of downtown Jefferson, and we found both already out of their banks on Monday.

"It makes me a little nervous. I was thinking that I might want to start sandbagging," said Carissa Cornwell.

Even as the rain tapered off on Monday, the threat of rising water hadn't passed.

"It's probably raised a foot since this morning," said Cornwell.

Cornwell's home is just downstream from where the rivers meet. On Monday, the riverbank was only a suggestion, as water began covering Riverfront Park.

"Yeah, Riverfront is pretty much one with the river," said Cornwell.

Thankfully, she said it was nowhere near the level it was in 2008.

"About 10 years ago, the river was literally running my basement," said Cornwell.

Jefferson's city administrator said he wasn't worried, but just in case, they had sand ready to go. He said he was expecting the river to crest a foot-and-a-half above flood stage.

"It wasn't even, it was still in the weeds there this morning," said Thomas Freitag, city administrator.

It wasn't the most relaxing Labor Day, but Steve White took advantage of the high water -- fishing in the rain.

"The fish aren't afraid to get wet. The river floods, the current is so strong the bait fish can't handle it, so what they did is, they come up here where it's normally not flooded," said White.

Steve White

At a foot-and-a-half above flood stage, Freitag said he wasn't sweating it. He said that level would only have a minor impact to low-lying roads along the river.