FILE: Fields of corn covered by flooding waters of the Mississippi River (Courtesy: Robert Kaufmann/FEMA)

 

GRAFTON, Ill. (AP) — Gov. J.B. Pritzker has deployed an additional 200 National Guard troops to southern Illinois to monitor rising water in the region.

The additional troops bring to 400 patrolling the region threatened by the rising Mississippi and Illinois rivers.

Pritzker said the state will use every resource at its disposal to “protect our residents and our communities from devastating floods.”

Towns in the metro-east area are battling flood waters, with the Mississippi at Alton expected to crest at 39 feet and the Illinois cresting at Grafton at 35.5 feet.

According to the governor’s office, state agencies have provided more than three million sandbags, more than 2,700 rolls of plastic, 27 pumps and five dozen Department of Corrections detainees to help hold back rising rivers.

Emergency Management officials are advising residents in river communities to have an evacuation-plan in place if it becomes necessary.