MATTOON, Ill. (AP) – Heavy rain in eastern Illinois has forced the Illinois Department of Transportation to close a section of U.S. Highway 45.
The department said late Friday afternoon that the highway is closed about 3 miles north of Mattoon. The town is about 50 miles south of Champaign.
According to the Mattoon Journal-Gazette, a number of rural roads in the area and some streets in the nearby town of Charleston also were either closed due to high water or expected to be closed.
Authorities cautioned drivers to stay out of even shallow water over roadways.
The National Weather Service said periodic storms are expected much of Illinois for the next few days. In eastern Illinois, minor flooding remains possible in the basins of the Sangamon and Wabash Rivers through that period.