More rain coming? Have a plan

It takes a lot of rain to cancel a tractor pull.

Out at the American Thresherman Association's annual event in Pinckneyville, the sloppy conditions created by last weekend's heavy rains meant the Thursday antique tractor pull was called off.

Most of the the rest of the weekend's events are set to go on, but more rain could cause problems.

"Hopefully, we get this in," association President Josh Giacomo said.

It's the story across the region, where last weekend's rains flooded roads and soaked some basements, leaving residents to look to the skies Friday and Saturday because more might be coming.

"Mother Nature cannot be helped," Ryan Buckingham, director of the Franklin County Emergency Management Agency said. "Storm water drainage can only make it so fast out of the cities."

Williamson County emergency management officials said some roads closed in the area following the rains, and Perry County emergency management coordinator David Searby said cleanup was continuing there mid-week.

More rain in the coming days could be tougher, and the National Weather Service says it could be coming to southern Illinois.

"A chance of thunderstorms is forecast throughout the area from Friday through Saturday night," a dispatch from the Paducah, Kent., office reads. "The thunderstorms are expected to become quite widespread Saturday afternoon."

Because the ground is already saturated from the week's rains, more water could lead to more flooding.

Searby and other emergency officials agreed: They didn't get any unusual requests for help and no calls of residents being forced from their homes in the last few days.

Still, the week can serve as a good reminder to have a plan for when flooding can get more serious, perhaps closing down roads for longer than people expect and keeping them from their homes.

"If I had to leave my home, what would I do?" Searby said.

Buckingham says what people shouldn't do is drive through or go in the water.

It might seem fun to play in puddles. But it could get dangerous quickly.

"It just takes one time for someone to go under," he said.