Many of those living and working near the Ohio River are watching the waters with a wary eye as the mighty river is rising up its banks. Thankfully, according to the National Weather Service Advance Hydrologic Prediction Service there shouldn’t be much cause for worry.

As of Tuesday evening they were predicting the river to crest at the Hannibal Dam today at noon, reaching 30.9 feet. Flood stage in New Martinsville is 35 feet. For a chart of the service’s prediction and actual readings visit http://newweb.erh.noaa.gov/ahps2/hydrograph.php?wfo=pbz&gage=hano1&view=1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1.

The great thing about a river flood is that there is advance warning and usually sufficient time to prepare. We’re certainly glad there doesn’t appear to be a river flood in our future, but we must say we know this community would pull together to help those in need if indeed overflowing waters were predicted.