Belle-Clair Fairgrounds recovering from floods; declares disaster

BELLEVILLE, Ill. – The cleanup process continues after Tuesday’s flooding.

“The creek is down, back to where it was before the rain started, but now we have to clean up inside the building,” Mark Kern, chairman of St. Clair County Board, said.

The Belle-Clair Fairgrounds is one of the hardest-hit areas. St. Clair County received 5–7 inches of rain, resulting in substantial flooding area-wide.

A disaster proclamation was issued for St. Clair County regarding flooding from heavy rains. Substantial flooding occurred in the morning and afternoon hours, leaving places like south Belleville impacted.

Preliminary damage assessments are occurring now to determine if a state or federal disaster declaration will be necessary. Dozens of water rescues occurred during the flash flooding, and government buildings received substantial damage that will require extensive repairs.

“It just seems like the rain got on top of St. Clair County and let it out over a short period of time. Like I said, there were roads today that we couldn’t travel down yesterday. We’re waiting for highway departments to tell us if they’ve had any major road damages, so that’s what we’re doing now, in the process of compiling all that information,” Herbet Simmons, director, St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency, said.

The flea market that was supposed to be held at the fairgrounds this weekend has been canceled, but officials say it will resume its monthly event in August.

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