Heavy rains, flash flooding soak suburbs

Heavy rains early Thursday morning caused flash flooding throughout the Chicago area, officials said.

But a second threat of heavy thunderstorms mixed with hail passed on without a whimper, giving people a chance to pump out floodwaters.

The worst hit overnight Wednesday into Thursday where standing water on roads forced closures throughout Lake, northern Cook, and McHenry counties.

The worst seemed to come in Lake and eastern McHenry counties where rainfall totals of between 2.5-inches and 3.5-inches were recorded.

In Lake Forest, four people had to be saved from their cars after high water stalled their vehicles at Westleigh Road and U.S. Highway 41. A number of homes near that intersection were also surrounded by water, officials said.

In Lake Zurich firefighters and Lake County work crews pumped out Thistle Road near the Cedar Creek subdivision due to standing water as high as two feet washed out the area, residents said.

"The water was up about 2 feet on the garage and went into the first level of the homes near here," said homeowner K.C. Faetz at the corner of Bristol Trail and Thistle. "The fire department is doing what they can, pumping the water out, but a lot of water came in quick. It's a disaster."

The Lake Zurich Emergency Operation Center was opened to help assist residents who needed to bail out in flooded subdivisions, said Lake Zurich police officials.

Aside from Cedar Creek, Bristol Trail Subdivision, Bristol Trail Road, Stone Avenue, Stanton Court, Partridge Lane, Deerpath Road, and Cuba Road were all impacted in the flooding.

Ilicia Bush said she saw a pond outside of her front door in the 0 to 100 block of Bent Tree Court in Hawthorn Woods. She said village employees worked to keep her dry with sandbags and pumps.

Lake-Cook Road was closed for more than six miles between Barrington and Algonquin, while Des Plaines had to close an underpass near the Golf and Wolf roads because of high water.

Schaumburg also experienced standing water around Campenelli Park near Weathersfield Way and Braintree Drive, also on Jones Road near the Hoffman Estates border.

Palatine's Acting Public Works Director Elias Koutas said the village closed Smith Road and Colfax Street, as well as Dundee Road between Smith and Quentin roads.

Roads also were also flooded in Grayslake, Wheeling, Mundelein, Hoffman Estates, and Gurnee, with some shut down for safety.

Algonquin public works crews, meanwhile, are treading water, said Public Works Director Bob Mitchard.

Flooding forced officials to close down Town Park and to temporarily shut down several intersections.

Public works crews spent the morning addressing minor flooding in five basements that occurred due to pump failures at the waste water treatment plant.

Crews also resolved flooding on the streets of Algonquin by clearing storm water systems of leaves and other debris, Mitchard said.

Officials expect to open Town Park on Friday.

Friday will also be a day of cleaning up from the storm and crews will ensure storm water structures are in good shape and ready for the next event.

"I think we're past the worst of it," Mitchard said. "I don't know what the weatherman is calling for, but I'm glad we didn't get another system coming through. That would really cause us problems."

Even Metra was affected by the weather, when service was halted for a short time between Waukegan and Kenosha due to flash flooding. Passengers on two trains were bused around the water problems before service beginning again.

The rivers also rose to swollen status, prompting the Fox Waterway Agency in Fox Lake to declare no wake conditions on the Fox River from the mouth of the Chain O' Lakes to the Algonquin Dam. That means boats were allowed to move on the river, but not travel at speeds greater than 5 mph.

The National Weather Service did issue a river flood warning for the Des Plaines and Fox rivers, but review of the estimated totals show the flooding will be minor, if any at all.

About 200 flights were canceled at O'Hare International Airport late Wednesday and early Thursday due to low visibility. At Midway, there are some minor delays but no cancellations reported.