UTICA – Businesses in the Village of North Utica began evacuating, Thursday. The village council declared a state of emergency due to rising waters on the Illinois River, Wednesday. While there has been no official evacuation, Mayor David Stewart left it up to businesses to decide. One business owner in the 700 block of south Clark Street, packed her belongings in a U-Haul, stating she’d rather be safe than sorry. The current forecast for the Illinois River at the Starved Rock Lock and Dam shows that the river will rise to two feet below the all time record.
