Heavy Rains, Flooding Lead To Sewer Explosion In Calumet City

By Chuck Sudo in News on May 12, 2014 3:15PM

Photo credit: CBS

Sunday’s heavy storms had homeowners and utility companies scrambling to deal with flooding, downed power lines and other issues across the area. The most impressive display of the storms’ power happened in Calumet City, where flooding overwhelmed the Deep Tunnel stormwater system in the south suburb and resulted in an explosion.

The blast left a crater 25 feet wide by 25 feet deep after a valve in the tunnel malfunctioned and didn’t open. The valve, located at 1560 Burnham Avenue was supposed to relive pressure from stormwater buildup. Neighbors near the area said they heard a loud boom and saw a giant geyser flowing from the site of the explosion.

"I looked out the back door ... and all I seen was this big wave just coming," said Sharon Krueger, who lives nearby. "I went to the building, banging on doors, telling people that we were getting flooded."

This apparently was not the first time an explosion has occurred in Calumet City’s portion of Deep Tunnel, the ongoing project to divert floodwaters from the Chicago area.

“When it went off, it was just like this huge bang. Boom!” Karen Matthews said. “We thought it was just a clap of thunder, so we didn’t pay any attention to it.”

It wasn’t until a neighbor called her that Matthews realized what happened.

“She said, ‘Did you hear that?’ and we said, ‘Yeah, the thunder.’ She says, ‘No, that crater blew again. The Deep Tunnel thing just blew again.’ She says, ‘It’s big enough to park a semi in,’” Matthews said.

Authorities said the sewer system is operating properly after the explosion.