FORD COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — People in several parts of Ford County are cleaning up after some heavy rain. Close to four inches fell across the area. Streets, parks, and even homes were flooded.

“Every time we have heavy rain, you know, we expect it. It doesn’t always happen that much,” said Ford County resident Myles Rick.

Rick’s basement flooded when close to four inches of rain fell over Ford County and he wasn’t the only one.

“I think the last time was at least twenty years ago that I had this much water in the basement,” said Deane Geiken. He said he wasn’t as prepared.

The last time Ford County saw severe flooding was in Gibson City in 2021. Since then, the county has been doing more to try to prepare.

Terry Whitebird with the Ford County Emergency Management Agency is asking people to send pictures of their flood damage. He said it helps the county build better statistics for a future mitigation plan.

“We’re all about people. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what service you’re in, it’s all about the people,” said Whitebird.

Until that plan comes about, some people are resorting to coming up with plans of their own. Rick is clearing out some of the drains in his neighborhood. He said preparation can prevent frustration.

“But the thing is we planned for it and everything down there is three inches off of the ground. So, we can handle three inches of water without any problem down there,” said Rick.

Geiken said he learned his lesson the hard way because he hasn’t dealt with a situation like this in so long. Now, he’s going to raise up everything in his basement, but it doesn’t erase the headache he’s dealing with right now.

“You know it’s all dirty water, so I’m going to have to spray the entire basement down again with clean water and do the process all over again,” said Geiken.