Battling rising waters up and down the Fox: Submerged docks, overflowed banks, flooded basements

Nunda Township put a call for volunteers on its Facebook page Sunday, seeking help filling, delivering and placing sandbags for homes along the Fox River on Monday.

That’s just one area within a large stretch of the Fox River where residents, public agencies and volunteers are battling heavy rising waters after several rounds of heavy rain.

The river remains in a flood warning “until further notice,” according to the National Weather Service. The agency said Sunday that the river was at flood stage at the Algonquin tailwater – below the dam – and at Montgomery, affecting Kane and Kendall counties.

“Persons along rivers and streams in the warned area should take immediate precautions to protect life and property,” according to the NWS.

People along the river reported submerged docks; flooded yards, streets and basements; and boats that had gotten loose and floated downstream.

For homes along some portions of the river, it may be too late to start sandbagging, David Christensen, McHenry County Emergency Management director, said Sunday.

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Volunteers work to protect a home in Holiday Hills as flooding continues on the Fox River on Wednesday, April 22, 2026. (Gregory Shaver/Gregory Shaver — Shaw Media)

But he’s not seeing reports of areas inundated by fast-rising water either.

“It is rising slowly. There is a lot of water moving downstream versus sitting here” in McHenry County, Christensen said.

The portions of the Fox River and Chain O’ Lakes that are controlled by the Fox Waterway Agency remained closed to boating Sunday. In a news release Saturday, the agency reported that the lakes and river are now in a major flood event.

In the lower river – from the Stratton Lock and Dam near McHenry to the Algonquin Dam – the agency said to expect flooding “greater than the 2017 event.”

That year, the river at Algonquin crested at 12.37-foot levels, according to the NWS.

Christensen said Saturday that New Munster, Wisconsin, farther up the Fox, is worrisome because it is at 14.5 feet and heading toward 15 feet. Fourteen feet is major flood stage there. And what happens in New Munster usually happens in McHenry County three to four days later, Christensen said.

For the lower river, the most-current flooding prediction for the lower river is 11.9 feet.

In the past, water at 12 feet and above at Algonquin means structures are threatened along the river in East Dundee, Carpentersville and Elgin, according to National Weather Prediction Service website. That site includes Flood Impact information – what different water levels have caused, historically, in areas of other downriver towns.

Farther downstream, the Fox River at Montgomery is forecast to remain at minor flood stage at 13.5 feet. That level means a few low-lying parts of St. Charles, Batavia and Montgomery on the river are threatened by floodwaters.

Farther north, at the Stratton Lock near McHenry, it takes just 7 feet of water to reach major flood stage, Christensen said. “Flood stage at McHenry is not the same as flood stage at Algonquin.”

Christiansen said McHenry County has received 333% of normal rain totals in April so far, which can feed into the river.

EMA is in “full-blown response,” Christensen said, and is working with townships and municipalities to provide them with additional resources than what they might have.

That includes sandbags, although “sand is never an issue” to find in the county.

In the 2017 floods, the county used 750,000 sandbags, Christensen said. But sandbags only work if they’re wrapped in plastic.

He added people whose wells get covered with floodwater should not use the well water and have the well tested after floodwaters recede. He said the McHenry County Department of Health can help with that.

Private sewage disposal systems also won’t work correctly if flooded, Christensen said.

He also believes actions taken by counties and municipalities since the 2013 and 2017 floods have lessened potential flood impacts in some areas.

“It hasn’t eliminated it. There are still homes that are flooded” with water in basements and coming over the riverbank and threatening homes, Christensen said. “If your house has water lapping at it, [mitigation efforts] don’t mean a whole lot to you.”

But before those efforts, Algonquin had homes and businesses that would flood in the spring.

“Now, it is just the park,” he said.

Houses with water lapping at them are what Nunda Township is seeing, said Rob Parrish, highway commissioner. He had 120 volunteers show up Sunday to help with sandbagging efforts.

He was supposed to spend the weekend celebrating his 30th wedding anniversary.

“My wife had a wonderful weekend planned in Galena,” Parrish said.

In Nunda Township, volunteers were helping to sandbag Sunday in areas around Burtons Bridge. That included volunteers and staff from Island Lake, Village President Richard McLaughlin said.

Calvin Clay, the village’s emergency management director, and others went to go help in Holiday Hills, McLaughlin said. Clay was among the volunteers, including Boy Scouts, who helped sandbag Saturday in the yard of an elderly couple who could not do it themselves.

Those seniors left an emotional message on his voicemail, thanking the village for their help. While listening to it, “I almost started crying, and I am a military man,” McLaughlin said.

Nunda Township Supervisor Mike Shorten said Saturday the sandbags were being trucked from where they were assembled to the riverfront as quickly as possible.

A lot of areas grappling with flooding are those that also dealt with it in 2013 and 2017, Shorten said. He said the road district is leading operations and “they’re doing a great job.”

There’s been trucks from places like Hoffman Estates and Crystal Lake, and the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office also brought inmates from the jail to help, Shorten said.

Parrish said Holiday Hills, Oakhurst subdivision and Bayview Beach were among the hardest hit areas in the township.

“That rain [Friday] night did not help,” Parrish said, adding that people enjoying Saturday’s nicer weather might not realize some people are fighting to save their properties.

Where sandbags are available

Check with municipalities for updates on where sandbags are being provided.

Algonquin

Sandbags available at:

Beach Drive at Rattray Drive
Center Street at La Fox River Drive
Filip Road
La Fox River Drive at Cornish Park
Oceola Drive at Hubbard Street
Riverfront Park

Go to algonquin.org for information.

East Dundee

Village has sand bags available outside the gate of its Public Works Garage at 446 Elgin Avenue. Self-serve.

Go to eastdundee.net for information.

Johnsburg

Sand and sandbags are available:

Location: 600 block of Bald Knob Road.
Residents must bring their own shovels.
Residents are responsible for filling and handling their own sandbags.
Please be respectful of the area and surrounding property.

Go to johnsburg.org/alert_detail.php for information.

McHenry

Sand bags are available to residents from the Street Division at the Public Works Facility located at 1415 Industrial Drive. Residents should call the Street Division at 815-363-2186 or go to cityofmchenry.org to learn the location of available sandbags.