DuPage deals with weekend storms, flooding

Patricia McIlroy spent Saturday morning with her two dogs, Finn and Uri, surveying the flooding outside of her Wheaton home.

She's seen this before, particularly the flooded section of Main Street in front of Hubble Middle School.

"I want the city to do something about it," McIlroy said.

Earlier this fall, during a particularly heavy weekend rainstorm, McIlroy's basement flooded to the ceiling.

On Saturday, she was among many residents all over DuPage County struggling to keep water out of their homes. Meanwhile, motorists were forced to navigate in wet or flooded streets.

And county officials were bracing for a second day of storm-related troubles.

DuPage County has activated its emergency operations center to monitor the storm system through the weekend. Dave Hass, a county spokesman, said crews will be on alert to respond to any major flooding.

"Right now, it looks like the weather is going to give us something of a relief," Hass said. "But you and I both know that can be as reliable as the next few minutes will allow."

Scattered flooding and road closures were being reported in Naperville, Addison, Wheaton, Elmhurst, Villa Park and Carol Stream, officials said.

Chad Peterson, a maintenance worker with the public works department in Wheaton, said the city has fielded about 40 calls from homeowners complaining about flooded roads or basements. Besides the flooded section of Main Street in front of Hubble Middle School, a portion of Gary Avenue between Madison and Harrison streets was flooded, as well as portions of the Briarcliffe subdivision.

"The majority of calls have been from the south side of town," Peterson said. "It's been a little rough getting to all the calls."

Carol Stream Village President Frank Saverino spent the morning touring flood-prone areas of town. As of Saturday afternoon, the entrance to Armstrong Park was under water, as well as sections of Dorchester and Hiawatha Drive. The village was making sandbags available at its public works facility located at 124 Gerzevske Lane.

"Our crews are out there working hard," Saverino said. "If we get no more than an inch or two of rain the rest of this weekend, I think we'll be fine."

In Lombard, officials were making sand available to any residents requesting it. As of early Saturday afternoon, there were reports of about 50 homes with flooded basements.

"The basements are flooding because our sanitary sewers are filling up," Village President William Mueller said. "So we're getting some backup there."

Because ponds already were near capacity, Lombard officials were beginning to worry about the DuPage River continuing to rise.

"Right now, we're holding our own," Mueller said. "But it's going to be rough if it freezes and then tomorrow (Sunday) we get some more thaw. As soon as that river rises to the point where it won't take our water anymore, we'll start seeing our ponds backing up."

Information on DuPage County road closures will be posted and updated periodically at www.protectdupage.org.

• Daily Herald Staff Writer Robert Sanchez contributed to this report.