School bus trapped in high water in Prospect Heights in 1967.
Daily Herald File Photo
People of the Northwest suburbs know flooding all too well. The floods of 1967 and 1979 wreaked havoc and cost homeowners millions of dollars to put their lives back together again. Residents in Des Plaines faced sandbag duty as they struggled to keep the Des Plaines River from entering their basements. The Des Plaines River runs 95-miles through four Illinois counties.
Daily Herald photographers captured the turmoil as residents struggled to save their homes and personal processions.
The rain was followed by sizzling, muggy heat which caused highways to buckle around the suburbs.
Fun fact: On April 13-14, 1987, storms dumped 9.35 inches of rain on us, and by the end of August 1987, the amount of rain tallied to 17.10 inches, making it the all-time wettest month in the Chicago area.
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Hauling sandbags at Forest View High School in 1979.
Daily Herald File Photo
Flooded home in Palatine in 1967.
Daily Herald File Photo
Flooding in Wheeling in 1967.
Daily Herald File Photo
Flooding in Wheeling in 1967.
Daily Herald File Photo
Flooding in Wheeling in 1967.
Daily Herald File Photo
Flooded streets in Wheeling in 1967.
Daily Herald File Photo
Flooded streets in the northwest suburbs flooded this car which the owner drains after it was removed in 1967.
Daily Herald File Photo
Car gets pushed out of the high water in 1967
Daily Herald File Photo
Flooding on Route 14 in Barrington in 1979.
Daily Herald File Photo
Flooding in Des Plaines in 1979.
Daily Herald File Photo
Hauling sandbags in Des Plaines in 1979.
Daily Herald File Photo
Sandbagging at Forest View High School in 1979.
Daily Herald File Photo
Hauling sandbags in Des Plaines in 1979.
Daily Herald File Photo
Flooding in Palatine in 1979.
Daily Herald File Photo
Flooding at Rt. 14 and Dundee in Palatine in 1979.
Daily Herald File Photo
Flooded home basement in Rolling Meadows in 1979.
Daily Herald File Photo
Flooding in the forest preserve in 1979 in Wheeling.
Daily Herald File Photo
Flooded Rand Road in Des Plaines in 1979.
Daily Herald File Photo