You don't need to be a psychic to predict that Mayor Emanuel will use this morning's massive South Side flood to sell his water infrastructure upgrade plans---and the water bill increases to pay for it. more ›

Take a look at these amazing before-and-after shots from NASA's AQUA satellite of downstate Cairo before and after the Army Corps of Engineers blew up the Birds Point Levee in Mississippi County, MO to prevent further flooding. more ›

Cue the Led Zeppelin. The Army Corps of Engineers blew up a Missouri levee last night that resulted in flooding miles of evacuated Missouri farmland but helped ward off flooding in downstate Cairo. The record rain we received last month has been particularly persistent downstate, swelling rivers and testing levees. Cairo is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and it's expected that blowing a two-mile wide hole in the Birds Point Levee in Mississippi County, MO will reduce river levels in Cairo by four feet. more ›

We knew the Chicago River was gross, but…really? According to the Chicago Tribune bacteria counts of water dumped into the Chicago River at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District’s North Side Treatment Plant are, on average, 521 times higher than those in Elgin on the Fox River!?! If our math is right, some spikes even contain 739 times the bacteria of comparable treated water put back into the suburban river. Perhaps more disturbing, depending on the time of year, the Chicago River is made up of 60-100% water dumped from the District’s treatment plants. Uh, nasty. more ›

As the old saying goes, when life gives you lemons, you paint that shit gold, especially if the “lemons” in this case is having your record label’s stuff destroyed in massive flooding. According to a post on local label Graveface Records’ web site, label head Ryan Graveface stated that he lost between 50 and 60 percent of “mostly unassembled product” because the record label’s Logan Square-based stock and parts filled space “filled up with 3 feet of water” due to the flooding. The super-duper awesome hooray-legal-system part about it? Graveface: “Insurance covers nothing because of a loophole, therefore I am out quite a bit of money/product.” more ›

This weekend's flooding across Northeast Illinois has prompted a flurry of declaration activity from local government. Yesterday, Gov. Quinn declared 12 counties as disaster areas and today Cook County Board President Todd Stroger issued his own proclamation for Cook County, hoping to bolster the push for federal aid for homeowners who sustained flood damage to their homes. Per the Trib: more ›

• The City Council Transportation Committee O.K.'d a plan to allow companies to display holiday-themed displays on bridge houses even if specifics like the actual size of the displays haven't yet been determined.
• Cocaine and PCP were found in the bloodstream of a local one-year-old boy after he apparently chewed on a piece of tinfoil laced with the drugs.
• While flooding clean-up continues here, our neighbors to the north in Milwaukee are facing their own post-flooding hardships.

The rain may be over and the trains may be running again, but flood clean-up still continues throughout the city for the remainder of the weekend. According to the Chicago Tribune, the official rainfall amount for the Chicago area was measured at 6.43 inches, the third largest total for a two-day period in Chicago history. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that an estimated 60 billion gallons of water fell on the city and parts of Cook County, filling all 190 miles of the Deep Tunnel system. more ›

Rains from overnight and early this morning caused traffic havoc all over the city and even with some CTA lines. The Blue, Pink, and Orange lines all dealt with delays due to some flooding. The above photos were taken by a reader earlier this morning at the Austin Blue Line (and some including the closed down, inbound Ike). Shuttle buses were used earlier today, but according to the CTA's website, there are no delays or reroutes with any train or bus lines as of post time. The Tribune has more, including updates on any interstate closures. more ›

If you're going to be out and about driving this morning, be careful as heavy rains that continued (and continued and continued) overnight have left us with some treacherous driving conditions this morning. There's been flooding reported at numerous viaducts around the city and the Eisenhower Expressway between Mannheim Road and 25th Avenue has been closed due to standing water. There are also delays being reported due to water on both the Kennedy and the Dan Ryan. Additionally, ComEd was reporting around 41,000 still without power across the Chicagoland area as of 7 a.m. this morning. And the rain's not over yet. So, we're under some flood watches and warnings in the area. Use extreme caution when driving today and keep an eye out for standing water. more ›

There's been plenty of rain this autumn, particularly in Western Illinois where there's been flooding along both the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers. The quick eyes of NASA were able to catch some cool images of the flooding via satellites. more ›

This weekend’s weather is wreaking havoc all over the place. More than 100 flights at O’Hare were cancelled due to the weather. Delays averaged more than two hours yesterday. As of this morning, the Aviation Department had not reported any delays for today. more ›

With so much flooding hitting our area again - and reports of flooding already coming in, including the Bishop Ford and Dan Ryan - be sure to check up on road conditions if you have to travel. Traffic.com is a good start. Be safe out there. more ›

Todd Stroger, the beloved President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners, today issued a reminder via press release that December 2, 2008 is the deadline to apply for FEMA assistance for disaster relief stemming from this fall's flooding. According to the release, "To date, more than 30,000 businesses and residents have filed a claim through FEMA for assistance in the wake of this fall’s catastrophic flooding, with FEMA disbursing $35 million to impacted counties, including Cook. A full 88% of those funds – $33.5 million – have been disbursed to Cook County residents alone." To apply, call FEMA at 1-800 621-FEMA (3362). more ›

It's been almost two weeks since Albany Park (and several other parts of the Chicago Metro Area) suffered from horrible flooding. But the story has already faded from media headlines, even as residents just now begin the hardest part of recovery. One group of Albany Park residents, however, has taken to the Internet to keep others informed. Albany Park Neighbors is a blog that keeps neighborhood residents informed of meetings and other recovery efforts, as well as allowing residents to share their personal story. So if you're from the area or just want to know what's going on as the neighborhood recovers, surf by. Meanwhile, Gov. Blagojevich asked President Bush on Wednesday to declare Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, LaSalle and Will Counties as disaster areas to secure federal recovery funds for those areas. more ›

As neighborhoods like Albany Park and many suburbs begin to dry out and clean up from this weekend's flooding, residents are beginning to ask for help from the federal government. Senator Dick Durbin was joined by 39th Ward Alderman Margaret Laurino, and a representative from Barack Obama's office to get a first-hand look at the massive flooding that happened from this weekend's intense rains. Said Durbin:

This has been devastating. A lot of these folks don't have insurance to cover this. One hundred billion gallons of water dumped on any community . . . is something you can't prepare for. I think when we need FEMA, they will be here.

Fitting that as we approach Friday's third Katrina-versary, FEMA should once again rear it's ugly head. The government agency has turned down Illinois' appeal for relief stemming from March's flooding in southern Illinois. Governor Blagojevich claimed 659 homes were impacted from the flood, including 228 of which were either heavily damaged or destroyed. No word yet on how FEMA will blatantly ignore the victims of Tropical Storm Fay. more ›

It's not just FEMA that's stepping up to help the flood ravaged Midwest. PAWS Chicago has a dozen dogs that they've rescued from flooding in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. While most of the dogs come from families that can no longer care for them, at least one canine was found floating in the water. more ›

Now might be the time to adopt that dog you keep saying you're going to get. Animal shelters throughout Illinois are taking in hundreds of dogs and cats in need of new homes due to the recent flooding in nearby communities. Sally Matay, president of Illinois Animal Rescue, is receiving up to 1,000 e-mails a day from people looking for a good home for their pets as many families lost their houses or just can't financially afford them anymore. more ›

• Turning bad to good, the parents of NIU shooting victim Daniel Parmenter planted an oak tree in his memory at the Elmhurst baseball park where he spent his youth. They’ve also created a scholarship to help children attend baseball or umpire training camps.
• Nine of the 17 Chicago victims of tomato-linked salmonella poisoning have been linked to one restaurant. 29 cases have been reported in Illinois, and there are now 23 states dealing with the epidemic. The Department of Public Health is not naming the restaurant at this time, but says the restaurant was shut down for 48 hours.
• In other infectious disease news, last weekend, we told you about the hotel hot tub that linked two people with Legionnaire’s disease. Well this weekend a third person has been linked to the same hot tub.
• Eight people have been killed in and around the city this weekend. The Trib has the tally.
• More rain came today. Flooding continues to rise in the north suburbs. And Iowans are now beginning to refer to their circumstance as “Our Katrina.”

• Tomorrow, on Father’s Day, Obama and his family will be attending a new church. At least that’s what he told talk show host Jimmy Kimmel on Friday.
• Metra expects at $20 million short fall, due to increased costs of diesel fuel. This despite a record 7-million riders. They’ll fix it by delaying plans to increase service, which puts Metra on-track with having standing customers. Huh?
• McDonald’s is reintroducing sliced tomatoes to their menu in the next seven to ten days after yanking them as a precaution. The FDA still hasn’t isolated the source of the salmonella bacteria.
• Cook County foreclosures are now worse than the U.S. average. Foreclosures were up 57% in May. Despite this, officials say we’re still faring better than most of the nation.
• Flooding. Flooding. And more flooding. Amtrak just announced they've suspended service on two lines between Chicago and the West Coast. Track river levels here.
• Daley says CTA’s current rail system is outdated. Really? He says he put the brakes on the downtown “Super Station” until they get the right technology.
• Johnson hits a homer to help the Cubs beat the Blue Jays in Toronto earlier today.
• Alderman Toni Preckwinkle is urging Daley to create a new Tax-Incriment Financing District to generate the millions needed to turn the closing Michael Reese Hospital into a $1.1 billion Olympic Village.