DuPage chairman says county's flood controls worked

With parts of DuPage County still drying out from this past weekend's flooding, county board Chairman Bob Schillerstrom said the county's flood controls worked properly.

"Where we had problems is in the local communities," Schillerstrom said. "I'm happy to report that DuPage County came out in good shape."

Some of the flooding was a result of power being lost, which caused sump pumps to fail, county officials said. More than 170,000 homes in the Chicago area were without power following Saturday's storms, according to ComEd.

Schillerstrom said the county's responsibilities are to ensure that reservoirs don't overflow and that the east and west branches of the DuPage River as well as Salt Creek don't spill over their banks. DuPage borrowed millions of dollars and created a stormwater management plan in the wake of massive flooding in 1987. All of the county's regional flood control measures worked this weekend, he said.

Some residents disagreed with Schillerstrom's assessment, complaining that flooding in the western part of the county could have been prevented through better flood-control efforts implemented in the eastern part of the county. Results of a county study of flood-prone areas in the western part of the county are expected next month.

Meanwhile, Gov. Pat Quinn has declared DuPage and other parts of the state disaster areas, which allows the state to expedite cleanup efforts in those areas. Schillerstrom said it's unlikely the federal government will designate the county a disaster area, which comes with financial assistance to the property owners who suffered flooding.