With several inches of rain on the way to the area, the National Weather Service in St. Louis has issued a Flood Warning for the Kaskaskia River in Vandalia that will begin on Saturday evening. As of this moment, the river is actually at just around 4 feet—well below it’s 18 foot flood stage. But, that is expected to change rapidly with the heavy rains throughout the area. The NWS predicts the river will begin rising rapidly on Saturday, go above flood stage on Sunday and crest near 28 feet early Monday afternoon. At that height, you will see several of the levees overtopped, flooding in Vandalia in the 4th Street area and the levee next to U.S. Route 51 overtopped. The prediction is based on the expected rainfalls of 4 to 6 inches for the area.