Officials Say to Stay Out of Lake MacBride!

It's going to be HOT these next few days here in Eastern Iowa! With high temperatures in the 90s today through Monday, you may be tempted to cool off with some swimming, but there is one local body of water you should stay away from.

According to the Iowa City Press-Citizen, officials say that Lake MacBride is not safe to swim right now. The article states:

"Park officials issued the recommendation after detecting higher levels of toxins last week indicating blue-green algae."

These high levels could last for several weeks, or they could have already passed (the test was done last week), but unfortunately, we won't know what this Tuesday's test results are until tomorrow. Until we know for sure, stay out of the water! The Iowa Department of Public Health says that swallowing water or just breathing in the algae can potentially cause "nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cough, runny eyes and nose, sore throat and asthma-like symptoms."

Keep your fingers crossed that the new test results show the levels have gone back down, but until then, it's better to be safe than sorry!

[Via Iowa City Press-Citizen]