WILMINGTON (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - The ice jam on the Kankakee River has been breaking up. Overnight more than a dozen people were evacuated in Wilmington as the water rose. Since then, it's been receding.
Along the river in downtown Wilmington, it’s flowing fast. Wider than it was.
The ice broke up Thursday night.
Ryan Jefferies lives in a second-floor apartment behind Desperado Antiques on Water Street on the river.
He said he was asleep when the river started moving. It woke him up.
“It was loud…It sounds exactly [like] a freight train going through and thunder,” Jefferies said.
Below his window, large concrete blocks were deposited from upstream. Another man said he was glad not to see debris from homes floating.
Kristin Petrovich lives along the river. She received a reverse 911 call at about midnight advising that she evacuate. She said the river was still 10 feet away so she stayed. She's never seen the river so swollen.
“We’ve been watching the ice, but I never envisioned it would be this close to town when it broke…shocking,” Petrovich said.
Along the bank, a couple dozen swans scattered as people stopped to shoot video and take pictures. One of them included Brandon Bullifin.
“It’s honestly like something someone painted,” Bullfin observed. “It’s like an imaginary scene going on here.”
Will County Emergency Management Agency said 14 people were evacuated overnight from the flooding.
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