Chicago Floods

Chicago floods: Evacuations, sandbagging as river levels rise

April 18, 2013|Chicago Tribune staff

 After wreaking havoc on the morning commute, closing schools and prompting scattered evacuations, the massive storm that dumped upwards of a half-foot of rain on parts of the Chicago area overnight is expected to continue throughout the day, with flooding the big concern. High waters already led to intermittent closures of most major expressways, but now officials throughout the city and suburbs are eyeing rapidly rising river levels along with drainage problems that are stranding motorists and blocking thoroughfares.

Gov. Pat Quinn has activated the State Incident Response Center in Springfield to speed up assistance to public safety officials in areas affected by the storm. "I urge everyone to stay alert and avoid flooded areas," the governor said in a statement. "Residents should tune in to local TV and radio stations for updated information about any closed routes or evacuations."

Along with hundreds of school closures, a number of forest preserves were shut down due to flooding and the Brookfield Zoo closed its gates for only the third time in its history. The Des Plaines River is expected to reach record levels in Des Plaines and Riverside, according to the National Weather Service, which said the river is already over its banks in many areas.

An alert from River Forest said the Des Plaines River was rising at a “very fast pace” and that some roads in the village are closed from flooding. The River Forest Public Works team has sandbagged a “strategic area along River Oaks Drive to help protect residential areas from flood waters,” according to the village, and will be out this morning to reinforce and add to this berm in an effort to keep flood waters away from residential areas. The Chain O'Lakes and Fox River have flowed over their banks, blocking roads and causing flooding has begun in Fox Lake.

Kent McKenzie, emergency management coordinator for Lake County, estimated that 500 to 1,000 homes at the Chain O’Lakes could be affected by the flooding. “We’re expecting based on forecasts from the National Weather Service that we could approach or exceed major flood stages or even record flood stages at some locations,” McKenzie said at a press conference in Libertyville Thursday. “This is a very serious situation.”

McKenzie said the county’s public works department had sent nearly 200,000 sandbags to local municipalities and townships. He added that the county was trying to obtain additional sandbags from the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-04-18/news/chi-chicago-flooding-20130418_1_des-plaines-river-river-levels-flooding