Muskingum County is currently under a flood advisory due to the amount of water rising throughout the area.

“We didn’t expect this much rise in the river but it has come up considerably,” Muskingum County EMA Director Jeff Jadwin said. “We’ve got a lot of areas along the Muskingum (River) that are flooded right at this point.”

Toward the southern end of the county, both County Road 6 and Shady Lane are under water. Toward the north end of the county, Stillwell Road, Gene Cox Memorial Drive, Schoolhouse Road and Moore Road are all experiencing flooding, as well.

“As ODOT says, ‘Turn around don’t drown,’ please do not drive through the standing water,” Jadwin said, “Down on County Road 6, that’s what people are doing. The water is over the road, you don’t know if the roadway is still there.”

There were additional roads that the EMA was keeping an eye on but the water, which was coming from local streams in places, has receded, Jadwin said.

The city is also experiencing flooding around Riverside Park and Putnam Landing Park. Jadwin advised the public to avoid those areas.

Some roads in Dillon State Park are also closed as water is building up in the lake.

Jadwin said there is more water coming in than going out as water cannot be released rapidly due to additional flooding downstream.

Looking into next week, Jadwin said the National Weather Service is advising him that temperatures could plummet to as low as negative 15 degrees.

“If we get that, that’s going to freeze up the river like it did last year and there’s nothing we can do to control that,” Jadwin said. “And we need people to be aware, to get ready to evacuate in case … the river would come up an additional four feet like it did last year.”

He added that any residents living close to the river should prepare accordingly for evacuation by packing a to-go bag with necessities.

At the time of publication, no one has been evacuated from their homes.

The EMA will utilize the reverse 911 service to notify the public of any drastic changes.

While not everyone lives near the river, Jadwin advised the general public to be conscious about the temperatures dropping so low.

“Be prepared because we just don’t know what it’s going to do,” he said. “Likewise, just the general population in the county needs to get ready for this cold weather so that if the temperatures do get down there.”

With such low temperatures, Jadwin said people should be mindful of potential water lines freezing or breaking, keeping warm, thinking about their pets’ health, as well as the health of older people, neighbors and family members.