Flood News: Remember To Stay Away From Standing Water
By Chuck Sudo in News on Apr 18, 2013 10:00PM
Chuck Sudo/Chicagoist
The City Office of Emergency Management and Communications updated media on the city’s progress fighting the flooding along the Chicago River and elsewhere in the city. The city was working to clear 27 viaducts across Chicago and the OEMC received complaints of 600 areas with standing water on the street. The Chicago River also rose over its banks in Albany Park. (Which is why MWRD re-reversed flow of the river to Lake Michigan.)
- OEMC also advised Chicagoans to stay away from the floodwater. Don’t try to drive through it. Don’t walk around your basement in it while wearing cute galoshes and wear protective clothing if you’re clearing out floodwater, since it likely contains sewage. Don’t try to wade through fast moving water. One would think this doesn’t need to be said, but the photos we put together in our STORMify prove otherwise. [City of Chicago]
- The evening commute will be slightly better than the morning flood, er, rush. All expressways in the Chicago city limits are re-opened as of this afternoon, with the exception of the Bishop Ford Freeway. [Tina Sfondeles/Twitter]
- For a full list of closed roads, check the Illinois Department of Transportation's website. For real-time updates on the storms, check Ready.Illinois.gov.
- The Sun-Times' Max Rust mapped out the rainfall totals for the past week and shows the south and southwest sides of the area have been hit the hardest. [Sun-Times]
- Chicago isn't the only part of Illinois being hit hard by storms. Gov. Pat Quinn activated the State Incident Response Center (SIRC) in Springfield to assess flooding and severe weather in several areas of the state and expedite assistance that may be needed by local public safety officials to protect citizens. Quinn also said "we all have to work together" to recover from the flooding. [Gov. Quinn's office, CBS Chicago]
- Today's flooding shut down DuPage County government and delayed a triple-murder trial. [Daily Herald]
- Today was the biggest argument against basement apartments. "We knew the rain was coming, but you can't be prepared for six feet of water like that." [NBC Chicago]
- Here's another reminder that re-reversing the Chicago River means we're allowing sewage to flow into Lake Michigan. [NRDC]
- Residents of the Snow Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Lisle were rescued from the floodwaters this morning. Some of them were transferred from wheelchairs to rafts. [Daily Herald]
- A geyser also erupted from a drain inside an Oswego high school. [ABC 7]
- Classes were canceled in Libertyville High School when a subbasement flooded. [Daily Herald]
Daniel Swinford shot this video (via NBC Chicago) of the Chicago River swelling along Wacker Drive.
View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.
Check out our collections of photos of the flooding here and here. Once more, with feeling: the geyser erupting from a storm drain on Lawrence Avenue, near the Ravenswood Metra station.