Rain floods Fox River Valley
Unrelenting rain and a swollen Fox River flooded roads and sent water into basements from Carpentersville to Batavia.
The worst-hit area stretched between South Elgin and St. Charles.
"They were the first ones to experience the flooding," said Don Bryant, director of the Kane County Office of Emergency Management. "St. Charles Township is probably having the toughest time dealing with the water."
Bryant's office distributed at least 25,000 sandbags Saturday at three locations:
• The Kane County Department of Transportation office, 41W011 Burlington Road, St. Charles.
• Lily Lake Village Hall, 43W680 Empire Road.
• Novak Park, Willow Drive, St. Charles.
South Elgin activated its emergency operations plan, closing roads, evacuating homes, handing out sandbags at 735 Martin Drive and opening an emergency shelter at 1 W. Middle St.
St. Charles also went into emergency mode, distributing about 1,000 sandbags and evacuating two homes.
Floodwaters swept across many streets in St. Charles closing more than 10 roads, officials said.
Numerous basements in Elgin were flooded, and police received reports of scattered power outages and people stuck in elevators.
Cars were stuck in high water on Route 20 near the Elgin-Bartlett border Saturday morning.
The were a few reports of flooding in Carpentersville, East Dundee and West Dundee, but police and firefighters reported no major damage.
Towns to the north and west - including Algonquin, Gilberts, Cary and Hampshire - mostly were spared flooding and damage from Saturday's storms.
Events throughout the Fox Valley were canceled or moved inside.
Elgin's annual Fiesta Salsa festival, which was set to have its parade at noon, was canceled.
Other events - including Heritage Fest in West Dundee, Fall Fest in Huntley and Elgin's annual Housewalk - went on as scheduled, but organizers reported low turnout.
The organizers of the Gifford Park Association's Historic Elgin Housewalk said the annual tour of historic homes was a "rain or shine" event.
"I still got tons of people this morning asking if Housewalk is still going on," event co-chair Karen Bach said. "I told them to bring their ponchos and umbrellas, and that's what they're doing."
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