In Savanna, with the help of inmates and volunteers, the sandbags are in place

SAVANNA – Savanna officials began preparing for the expected rise in the Mississippi River several weeks ago.

By Saturday evening, a large part of that preparation was finished.

“We have completed our sand bagging efforts downtown and will no longer need volunteers,” the Savanna Fire Department posted on social media. “A huge thank you to everyone who came down to help. We are overwhelmed by the support from everyone, we could not have accomplished what we have in such a short time without all you!”

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 13

Savanna firefighter Gene Gonyier and inmates from Kewanee were busy placing sandbags behind the downtown business district on Saturday as Mississippi River levels continued to rise. The river was expected to crest at 22' laster this week. Flood stage is 16'. The 2019 flood reached 21', Savanna officials began preparing for the flood several weeks ago. (Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media)

Earlier in the day, firefighter Gene Gonyier was busy directing inmates from a correctional facility in Kewanee as he and other volunteers added to a 750-foot long wall behind the 300 and 400 blocks of Main Street.

Water levels in Savanna were expected to reach the 20.87-foot level of the 2019 flood by Wednesday, April 26. The crest is expected around May 1.

The National Weather Service issued a revised outlook on Monday. It said all points between Dubuque, Iowa and Burlington, Iowa, would be subject to flooding it categorizes as major.

The river is expected to crest at Fulton on May 1, though the water might be higher than earlier projections. The crest is expected to be between 22.5 feet and 23.5 feet. If the latter, it would be the second-highest level on record.

The highest was the April 28, 1965, flood in Fulton that crested at 24.75 feet. The April 24, 2001, flood crested at 23.31 feet.

In Fulton on Saturday, rising water was reported and had closed the riverfront marina. But water levels appeared to be far below the levee that has protected the town since its dedication in 1984. The levee was constructed in response to that 1965 flood that overtook the town.

On Sunday, National Weather Service senior service hydrologist Matt Wilson reported that cold weather in Minnesota and Wisconsin had slowed the pace of the snowmelt in the upper Midwest, which was the cause for most of the flooding.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 5

Photos using a drone taken by and provided by the Carroll County Sheriff's Office show Mississippi River at Savanna on Monday, April 24, 2023. Waters are expected to crest sometime around May 1. (Provided by Sheriff Ryan Kloepping)

Wilson wrote that the remaining snowpack will not likely contribute to the crest, but could lengthen the time it takes for waters to recede.

“High water on the Mississippi is backing up smaller creeks and tributaries, though this should not cause flooding alone,” Wilson wrote. “Those areas would need to be monitored if we received a heavy precipitation event.”

Sarah Ford and Troy Taylor contributed to this report. This story was updated on Monday with latest projections by the National Weather Service.