News

Chicago Sinkhole, Flooding Punctuate Dramatic Thursday

Published: Apr 18, 2013, 7:42 PM EDT weather.com

Chicago

A section of a car can be seen in a gaping sinkhole that opened up a residential street on Chicago's South Side after a cast iron water main dating back to 1915 broke during a massive rain storm Thursday, April 18, 2013. (Image: AP Photo/M. Spencer Green)

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Dramatic pictures of flooding across the Midwest Thursday punctuate day two of a storm system that also brought severe weather and snow to parts of the Plains and Midwest.
(MORE: Track Severe Weather)
The rain will taper overnight, but the damage has already been done. Illinois Governor Pat Quinn declared a State of Emergency to help with widespread flooding issues. Hundreds of flights were cancelled from Chicago's airports, and thousands of people were left without power.

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Chicago was pummeled by an all-night rainstorm that ripped open a sinkhole large enough to swallow three cars and injuring one driver badly enough that he had to be hospitalized. Police spokesman Mike Sullivan said the gaping hole opened up in a street on the city's South Side, near Lake Michigan.
The injured man was driving when the road buckled and caved in. He was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital with non-life threatening injuries. The other two cars were parked.
The storm-swollen Chicago River is being allowed to flow into Lake Michigan to relieve flooding and sewer backups downtown and in neighborhoods. The river was diverted away from the lake more than a century ago to keep pollution out of the lake, the source of the city's drinking water.