PEARL CITY, Ill. (WTVO) — Flood waters across Stephenson County are starting to recede after two days of heavy rain earlier this week.
Roads are beginning to open and families are getting a lock at the damage left behind. Pearl City residents said, however, that this is not the first time they have had to deal with massive rainfall. In fact, this is the sixth major flood for some.
“I keep saying after every flood, ‘this is the last one I’m going through,'” said Pearl City resident Carol Strohecker. “My daughter says ‘are you going to move yet?'”
Strohecker has lived in Pearl City since 1990. Her basement floods when the area gets a lot of rain, backing up sewage into her house. She said that every big storm is stressful, because a wall in her basement caved in one year.
“We share pumps. My pump there was over to the neighbors all night and my neighbor over there helps with mechanical stuff, so we try to help each other out as much as we can if we got something that we need we share,” Strohecker said.
Former Pearl City Mayor Bob Kanoup said that, despite the work, the town comes together in times of crisis.
“Commend the whole community for coming together every time something happens, and that’s really great,” Kanoup said.
The main road through Pearl City is now open, but Lieutenant David Dixon of the Pearl City Fire Department said that there is still a lot to do.
“Flood waters receded faster this time. In two days we were out cleaning up streets, parking lots of businesses,” Dixon said. “For us, it’s the town road. The state has been out, had roads closed down the county….just clean off what we can get traffic flowing.”
As for Strohecker, she is not sure if she should move or stay after this last flood.
“I like living in a small town,” she said. “You know, I’ve lived here for so many years that it’s hard thinking about moving to Freeport, and all the, everything that goes on in there, and I like the small town. I feel safer here.”
The Pearl City Fire Department said that a lot of the water has receded, but there are still a few parking lots, as well as the camp ground, underwater.