July 23 flooding... the worst ever.

The rains have subsided and the No Flood Zone is processing the extent of the damage and what the  community can do to further improve flood mitigation in the 8th Ward.
The Chicago Tribune had tweeted the following about the rainfall with a video clip:

• chicagotribune: Rainfall at O'Hare-6.97 in as of 5am could be largest single-day since records began in1871 http://trib.in/n5p7ZI

And the weather observations from NOAA confirmed almost 7" in 3 hours

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Here are some thoughts from residents:

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Dover and Pennsylvania was completely underwater. The water was up to my garage door. I had 10” of water in my basement, the most ever by far.

The City did a miserable job of controlling traffic here. All morning and into the afternoon, vehicles were going down Dover and Pennsylvania at high speeds, creating huge wakes that continually washed over my property and into my garage. One truck went through the intersection at least five times, causing more damage every time he passed, Virtually all my mulch and potted plants were washed away as a result of this. Water was forced into the tailpipes of my vehicles. The tailpipes are 14-16” above the ground, well above the water level at that time. I made 4 calls to the police dept. and was connected to dispatch. I asked them to send someone with horses to block the street. At 1:30, someone erected horses on Pennsylvania, but they never did anything on Dover. This intersection is one of the worst in the neighborhood when we flood and to let vehicles fly through the intersection is inexcusable. This caused a great deal more damage to my property. I ask that you bring this to the attention of the City. When this happens again, these streets have to be blocked off. There are enough other things to address than cowboys flying down the street.

I hope you fared better at your place.

Austin V. Stanton, Jr.

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We had 2.5 feet of water in our basement and consider this by far the worst flooding event ever. With all the money that was spent on the Marshall Drive project, Julie and I are so frustrated that walking away from it all is starting to seem like the only option. Other neighbors feel the same way. Perhaps in time our neighborhood will be nothing but vacant lots.

I realize that right now I am not in the best state of mind to be making decisions, but the reality is that no one should have to live this way. These rain events happen annually, not once every hundred years, and it's time to execute Plan B - whatever that is.
Jim Vinci

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It truly is a bad situation. Our house was hit hard as well. We lost the use of the recreation room and will need to replace 3 year old carpet ( as well as some furniture) which was installed as a replacement for the same type of flooding event.  

At an 8th Ward meeting on June 16, Tim Oakley, Director of Public Works and Engineering,  was nice enough to talk about plans related to the Storm Water Master Plan. He mentioned the design intent is to handle 4 inches of rain in 4 hours. This may not be enough. 

Also the results and recommendations from the meter data measuring water flow in sanitary sewers is due at the beginning of August 2011. Most of the water came into my house via the floor drain which means that there must be sanitary pipes that are taking on storm water.

The Storm Water Master Plan for the 8th Ward needs to be reevaluated and adjusted to handle larger flooding events.  


PLEASE PROVIDE YOUR COMMENTS BELOW TO FURTHER COLLECT INFORMATION ABOUT THIS EVENT.
Thank you.