Flash flooding in Chicago, southwest suburbs washes out roads, floods basements
Chicago residents are cleaning up after strong storms with hard rains caused flash flooding Friday, especially on the South Side.
The line of thunderstorms brought sudden, heavy rain Friday afternoon, with some areas seeing up to six inches fall in just a couple hours. The deluge washed out roads, stalled out cars, and filled basements with inches, even feet, of water.
On Western between 76th and 74th streets, water got so high that some drivers ditched the street and used the sidewalk to get through the viaduct.
At 58th and Harlem, knee-deep water covered the whole block. At 47th and Archer, the roadway flooded under the viaduct.
Heading into Ashburn, the residential area near Daley College at Hamlin and 75th Street flooded, and one homeowner and his daughter worked to clear debris blocking the sewers. They said there was some damage from the storms Thursday night, but today is much worse; they had to cancel their plans for the day so they could spend several hours getting water out of their basement.
"At least yesterday it wasn't flooding. Now it's flooding," said Denise Cerna. "We're doing everything; the whole basement is flooded, we've been mopping for two hours. From the outside there's water coming in."
Luckily the flooding drained pretty quickly and no one got stuck on the roads there or in the surrounding neighborhoods. Homeowners mainly hope they don't get a repeat of this rain on Saturday.
It was even worse in some southwest suburbs.
In Bridgeview, more than six inches of rain fell in the area in less than two hours, overwhelming storm drains and streets. To make matters worse, Bridgeview has among the lowest points of terrain in the Chicago area, making it especially vulnerable to flooding.
Cars were left submerged in the middle of the road, drivers stranded until the water receded and their engines could dry out. Other drivers got stuck just outside the deep ponding, unable to drive through it but not finding a way to get around it either.
Some kids were out trying to enjoy the massive puddles, and we saw one man paddling in an inner tube.
In Summit, one family found themselves waist-deep in water in their just-finished basement. Their brand new washer and dryer are now gone.
The family called Illinois Restoration Services' disaster solution team to start cleaning it up as soon as possible. Company president Jim Sharp said they received a lot of calls Friday afternoon.
"We are getting a lot of calls for flooded basements, a lot people lost power, their sump pumps go out," he said.
Sharp said all 30 employees have completed over a dozen calls in the area today, removing water from basements, changing out sump umps, setting up fans and humidifiers to get the drying process going. Sharp anticipates more calls after tonight.
"A lot of people haven't gone down to their basements yet. So they get home later today they are going to go down," he said.
Sharp advised that if you get water in your basement, call your insurance company immediately and avoid going into the water in case there are live wires.
The company also advises making sure your basement doesn't stay went longer than four to five days, or else mold starts growing.
Officials warn not to walk or drive through flooded roadways, as the standing water can be deeper than it appears and comprise a threat to you whether or not you're in a vehicle.
The storm threats remain in place through the weekend, with the possibility of additional rounds of flooding in parts of the area.
Residents are asked to contact 311 to report flooding.
