Kane officials keeping a wary eye

Assessment teams toured Kane County Sunday monitoring roadways and homes throughout the Fox Valley as steady rain and flooding continued for a second straight day in the suburbs, threatening thousands of local homes and businesses.

County Board Chair Karen McConnaughay Saturday night signed a county disaster declaration, the first step in obtaining federal assistance.

And rescue workers worked around the clock to help residents trapped by rising flood water.

The Sugar Grove Fire Department evacuated several homes and condos Sunday morning, Deputy Chief Dan Adler said. Firefighters used two rescue boats to evacuate about a dozen people from Turtle Cove townhouses on Hankes Road, Adler said.

More evacuations took place on Prairie Street East of Barnes.

"Basically every road going east in our district is closed except for Hankes," Adler said. "Everything is flooded with fast-moving water that's still coming up."

An area close to a square mile remains underwater.

"Tables are floating at the Bliss Creek Golf Course's restaurant... it's a very serious flooding situation," Adler said.

The only waterway in the county that had not crested as of Sunday was Blackberry Creek, which runs through Elburn and Sugar Grove. The creek was expected to crest by 8 p.m. Sunday.

Campton Hills and Batavia each saw a record 8 to 10 inches of rainfall, officials said.

Don Bryant, director of the Kane County Office of Emergency Management, said water levels in the Fox River and the tributaries that feed it were starting to go down in South Elgin and St. Charles Sunday.

"The problem is moving south through the county," he said.

A flood warning remains in effect until 4:15 a.m. Monday for Kane, DuPage, Cook, Lake, southern McHenry counties.

Heritage Fest in West Dundee, Fall Fest in Huntley and Elgin's annual Housewalk were not canceled, but event organizers reported low turnout.

Small rivers and streams which have flooded include Buffalo Creek in Wheeling, Weller Creek in Des Plaines, the Skokie River in Lake Forest, the Chicago River in Deerfield, the east branch of the DuPage River in Bolingbrook, and Salt Creek in Rolling Meadows, Elmhurst and Western Springs.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich "is aware of all the flooding," spokeswoman Jill Watson said.

Any visit by Blagojevich to the affected communities "at this point has not been determined," Watson said.