The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for residents living along the Kankakee River stretching from Shelby in far southern Lake County to Sumava Resorts in northern Newton County near the Indiana-Illinois state line.
How far the river will rise and how quickly remains to be seen.
"I still think we need to take a deep breath and let this settle a little bit," Jody Melton, Director of the Kankakee River Basin Commission, said Thursday after reading the National Weather Service's prediction of a rapid rise that would bring the river above the level of protection afforded by the man-made levee at Shelby and Sumava.
While the Weather Service started out Thursday morning predicting river waters would hit 13 feet at Shelby by Saturday afternoon, that prediction was amended Thursday afternoon to 12 feet by Saturday.
Shelby residents grow concerned when the waters rise past 11 feet.
"The river's come up, and I'm sure it's coming up some more," said Carl Studer, past president of the Sumava Resorts Improvement Club. "It's a roll of the dice."
