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Chicago flash flooding prompts water rescues, submerges vehicles, floods basements

Chicago flash flooding prompts water rescues, submerges vehicles, floods basements
Chicago flash flooding prompts water rescues, submerges vehicles, floods basements 02:19

Chicago flash flooding prompted weather warnings, water rescues and submerged vehicles Tuesday night as a slow and soaking rain storm pounded the city.

The warning affected a narrow, but densely populated area that included downtown Chicago. Flash flooding was seen from the downtown area through the West Side along the Eisenhower Expressway to Oak Park, as the slow-moving storm hovered stubbornly over the area.

The storm Tuesday night started with some pop-up thunderstorms during the 8 p.m. hour, and turned into the messy, sluggish storm that took some by surprise.

The situation grew more and more serious as the night went on. Roads, interstates, and viaducts flooded, and water rescues had to be made at multiple locations on the West Side. Early on during the storms, rescues were made at Western and Ogden avenues and at Ashland Avenue and Kinzie Street.

At the Metra viaduct at Western Avenue and Kinzie Street, the Chicago Fire Department was seen rescuing a person from the roof of an Audi.

Rain fell at a rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour, and West Side neighborhoods like Homan Square, North Lawndale, Tri-Taylor and Garfield Park saw some of the highest rain totals.

Garfield Park saw 5.45 inches of rain during the storm, and North Lawndale saw 6.6 inches. Nearly 4 inches fell in the Loop, while Ukrainian Village and the Lower West Side both saw 2.78 inches fall.

A Teddy Swims concert at the Huntington Bank Pavilion was evacuated as the storms blew in and soaked the venue.

In Tri-Taylor, James Hall had to keep his rain boots on as he addressed the significant flooding in his finished basement.

"I don't know but it doesn't look good," he said. "There were about four or five inches of water down there. All the furniture and appliances were affected. The water's like a yellow-brown color."

The drains on Grenshaw Street couldn't keep up with the rain, even with help.

"Water was rushing down the street," Hall said. "It was biblical. I've never seen it rain that hard for that long."

Hall tried his best to clear the drains with a garden rake and a snow shovel, but it didn't really help. Shondele Gillens-Vasquez also tried to help the sewage system keep up with the deluge.

"I put on some boots and found a stick in our garage, and my neighbor was out here trying to rake as well," she said.

It only slowed the inevitable flow of water from one home to the next.

"And it got inside and you could just see it coming up from the drain," Gillens-Vasquez said. "I think I might slow down on this renovation of the basement 'cause that was our next renovation project."

She had big plans for that space, but now she just has a big mess. And she's worried her brand new washer and dryer are ruined.

"We just did some work in the upstairs part of our house, and so this is going to be another big bulk of money that we'll have to shell out," she said.

Her neighbors are in the same boat, and most of them got a visit from their insurance companies Wednesday.

Storms also hit the north lakefront through Lincoln Park, Lakeview/North Center, and Edgewater Tuesday night, but severe flooding was not seen in those areas compared with the West Side.

The storm was out of the area and the warning had ended by midnight. 

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