UPDATE: Flood Warning In Effect for Montgomery Through Wednesday

UPDATE: The National Weather Service has shortened the flood advisory: it's now in effect through Wednesday night. Water levels were measured at 12.6 feet Tuesday morning, and are expected to keep falling, accoring to the NWS.

The National Weather Service issued yet another flood advisory Sunday night for the Fox River in Montgomery. But according to homeowners along the riverbank Monday afternoon, water levels were nowhere near as bad as they’ve been in the past.

With intermittent rain Sunday and Monday, and the potential for snow Monday night, water levels through Montgomery had risen past the “action stage” by Monday morning, according to the National Weather Service. That stage is 12.5 feet, and on Monday the levels were measured at 12.8 feet. Flooding begins at 13 feet, according to the NWS.

Heavy rainfall along with melting snow from the Feb. 2 blizzard are adding to the rising water levels, according to the NWS advisory. The flood advisory, which comes on the heels of a similar one issued Friday morning, is in effect through Thursday afternoon.

Monday's precipitation is expected to clear up by Tuesday afternoon, but more snow could be headed our way on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the NWS.

Director Mike Pubentz said his department is on alert, but problems usually do not arise until the river rises above 14 feet. He said the biggest flooding problems occur on River Street, north of the dam and south of Ashland Avenue.

On Monday afternoon, water from the river had not yet crept into the yards of those homes, and levels were still below the stones many homeowners had erected to keep it out.

Ruth Freeman, who has lived on River Street for three years, said she has a sump pump ready to go should the water come into her yard and basement. But flooding of that nature “rarely happens,” she said.

Joan Gibson has lived on River Street since 1986, but after the flood of 1996, which saw 17 inches of rain dumped on the Aurora area, she and her family built a house further back on the same lot. They’ve been living there since 1998, she said.

Although she agreed that flooding rarely happens, she did say water came into her yard after a rainstorm last year.

“It’s OK today,” she said, looking out her back window. “It’s been a lot worse.”