Southern Seven Health Department tryied to help those sandbagging in Alexander County stay hydrated during this intense heat.
The organization held a water and sports drink donation drive in Anna Friday dubbed Flood the Bus. Donations collected on pickup trucks and Southern Seven's head start bus were taken to McClure.
Delores Landreth of Jonesboro donated water and Gatorade. She says she feels empathy for those living in the flooded areas.
"I can't get to Cape because of all the water and I really feel sorry for the people who are down there that need help."
Another donor - Leni Lambdin of Wolf Lake - says she felt the need to donate water and Gatorade because her husband has been sandbagging in Wolf Lake and McClure and her heart goes out to those suffering from the unprecedented flooding.
The flooding situation continues to improve in Jackson County.
The county's emergency management agency reports levee patrols and maintenance have been scaled back by the Corps of Engineers. All pumps in the county are running and the rivers are continuing to fall at a steady rate.
There is hope the Cora floodgate on Route 3 near the Jackson-Randolph county line could be re-opened sometime next week.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker is seeking a federal agriculture disaster declaration for all of Illinois following the state's soggy planting season.
Pritzker says in his request to the U.S. Department of Agriculture that winter snowmelt and record rain caused rivers to swell to historic levels and soils to become saturated statewide this spring, forcing farmers to delay or scale back their planting, or not plant at all.
He says in his request for a Secretarial Disaster Declaration that's hurt a core state industry and working families.
The State Emergency Board recommended to USDA's Farm Services Agency that an agricultural disaster be declared for all 102 Illinois counties.
A disaster declaration would provide access to federal resources for farmers and businesses that experienced disruption during the spring planting season.
