Residents of Illinois town evacuate as officials warn of ‘imminent’ dam failure

Residents in Nashville, Illinois, are evacuating their homes after emergency management officials warned the failure of the city’s dam was “imminent”.

Nashville, a small city in Illinois with a population of nearly 3,000 people, and surrounding areas have been hit with severe storms which have caused flooding, overwhelming the city’s infrastructure. More than 5in of rain fell in the region within six hours on Tuesday.

“Attention The Failure of the Nashville dam is imminent. Please evacuate your home at this time. If you are in the grey box, you need evacuate now!” the Washington county emergency management agency wrote on Tuesday on Facebook.

The dam, located behind the Nashville City Reservoir, is 740ft long and 26ft tall according to the Illinois environmental protection agency .

Roads have closed and the Red Cross has been activated. A community center has also been opened for those seeking shelter.

“In response to the dam failure and flooding taking place in Nashville, IL, the Red Cross along with community partners, such as the Washington County IL emergency management agency, are working to establish a shelter located at 680 W Walnut St in Nashville,” the American Red Cross of Illinois announced.

The National Weather Service in St Louis, Missouri – roughly 55 miles north-west from Nashville – issued a flash flood warning on Tuesday morning.

More rainfall is predicted for the region. The cause of the Nashville dam failure is not yet known.

The Washington county emergency management agency said in a statement: “At this time, without further rain, the immediate safety concern has passed. The secondary dam reacted as designed, helping prevent a full dam failure. However, the [army corps of engineers] did note that repairs to the Nashville IL Reservoir will be required, sooner rather than later, to maintain the integrity of the dam. Residents are allowed to return to the evacuated areas at this time, if they are comfortable doing so. At this time, no injuries or deaths have been reported. However, there is significant property damage from the flooding. It could be quite some time before the impacted areas return to normal. We kindly request patience from our community as we work to clean up and restore the area.”