Jason Bell has lived in Nunda Township for 27 years, long enough to have seen the Fox River flood multiple times. And this week, it’s flooding again.
Along Beach Street in the Bayview Beach subdivision, where homes line a narrow channel off the river, docks and boats have been flooded over. Since Wednesday, Bell has taken time off work, spending his days stacking sandbags along the road, trying to hold the water back from him and his neighbors.
“It’s been all hands on deck,” he said.
The thousands of sandbags now form a barrier along the street affectionately called “The Great Wall of Bayview,” said Bell. He and his neighbor, Joanne Kelch, have weathered five floods here. He says this one is shaping up to rival the worst.
Still, he points to the people behind the effort as the difference.
“It’s the sense of community, the strangers that go up to Nunda and make these sandbags that allow us to save our homes,” Bell said. “It’s something to see.”
That effort has scaled up quickly. More than 100 volunteers spent Sunday filling and stacking sandbags across Nunda Township as officials warn the Fox River could reach major flood levels within days in McHenry County.
Township crews have been producing roughly 3,500 sandbags an hour to keep up with hundreds of calls from homeowners in low-lying areas along the river.
So far, 60,000 sandbags have been filled in Nunda since they started last Wednesday as forecasts point to a midweek river crest.
“It’s bad,” said Mike Shorten, Nunda Township supervisor. “You can see where the water’s supposed to be and you can see where it is. Where it is, is not the right place.”
The Fox River, which flows from southeastern Wisconsin into McHenry County, is expected to continue rising until it reaches its peak — or crest — later this week. In McHenry, the river has multiple gauges reaching peak levels this week.
At the Algonquin tailwater, waters are expected to rise to over 12 feet by Thursday morning before receding, according to data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Water Prediction Service.
At the Stratton Lock and Dam in McHenry, the river has reached nearly 7 feet Monday, designating it as a major flooding condition, said David Christensen, director of McHenry County’s emergency management agency.
Major flooding indicates that there will be water inundation to structures and roads. In Nunda, Rawson Bridge Road is currently closed due to flooding.
But river conditions can shift quickly, Christensen added, so officials are watching upstream gauges in Wisconsin for clues about what’s coming next. Water levels at New Munster, farther north along the Fox River, often serve as a predictor for McHenry County as both communities share the same watershed.
This week’s intense storms and record-breaking rainfall have already pushed several Chicago area rivers higher. The Des Plaines River crested at 18 feet Monday — below its 2013 record of 20.9 feet — and is slowly receding. Forecasts for the Fox River in McHenry County also remain below the record crest set at 13.2 feet in 2013.
Even so, past floods have shaped how local officials are responding.
“This has been an issue in Nunda Township,” Shorten said. “We’ve had floods this bad back in 2017 and 2013 in recent history, where we had to kind of fire up the same type of processes.”
He said he expects this week’s floods to be on par with flooding conditions in 2017. Christensen warns that it’s important to get out ahead of the flood to reduce damage.
“Now’s the time, or it’s almost too late, that you would do emergency mitigation efforts, such as sandbagging,” said Christensen. “Once it’s crested, you’re done. If it’s already flooded, you’re not going to protect it.”
He also warned residents to avoid contact with floodwater, which can carry contamination from overwhelmed septic systems.
In Nunda, officials continue to call for more volunteers to distribute sandbags to help residents build floodwalls before the river crests.
But for neighbors Bell and Kelch, the early push has already made a difference. With sandbags stacked high along their street, they believe their homes are better protected against this round of flooding.
“I really think if it wasn’t for people wanting to contribute and save the community, we would be in a much different place,” Kretch said. “You really do need to come together, because if you don’t, it’s not going to work.”
