Even Deep Tunnel Couldn't Control Flooding, City Finds Update

CHICAGO — The Deep Tunnel wasn't deep enough, as it turned out.
According to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, the entire 109 miles of tunnels built over the last 30 years to handle the Chicago area's water were filled shortly after midnight Thursday, as the five-inch rainfall was just getting started. So were the reservoirs built to contain rainwater.
That's 2.3 billion gallons of water in the tunnels alone, which were full and flowing throughout the day.
MWRD opened the Wilmette lock on the north shore at 1:25 a.m. Thursday, the Chicago River controlling system downtown at 3:47 a.m. and the O'Brien controlling system to the south at 6:15 a.m., yet it wasn't enough to keep the North Branch from flooding Albany Park.


Read more: http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130419/albany-park/even-deep-tunnel-couldnt-control-flooding-city-finds#ixzz2RxwQxFsX