‘It’s horrible’: One worker rescued from Downers Grove storm sewer, another missing after torrential rain

Downers Grove residents reacted with shock and sorrow Tuesday after a contract worker was apparently lost in a storm sewer amid tempestuous weather Monday.

Officials announced Monday evening that their rescue effort had become a recovery operation, after another worker had been pulled alive from the sewer.

At about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, police and fire crews converged on a neighborhood west of the accident scene, taping off a block-wide area. A stretcher was at the scene.

Workers at the sewer construction site on the 800 block of Curtiss Street, near the Downers Grove village hall and police station, flagged down police around 12:50 p.m. Monday to say two men had disappeared in a stormwater sewer.

Throughout the late morning and early afternoon Monday, Downers Grove and surrounding communities were hit with thunderstorms, high winds and tornado warnings.

Downers Grove Fire Department crews and assisting agencies saved one worker from the storm sewer approximately 200 feet from the original point of entry, the village stated on Facebook. “He was transported to Good Samaritan Hospital and is in good condition.”

“Current water conditions within the storm sewer make further search efforts extremely dangerous. The search efforts will resume when the water conditions within the sewer improve to a safe condition,” authorities said.

“It’s terrible,” said a resident who lives near village hall. “It’s just a very unfortunate situation. A man’s just trying to go to work and make a living.”

“It’s horrible,” said Margaret Escamilla, who was walking her dog on Curtiss Street.

Escamilla, who lost power around 12:15 p.m. Monday, described the onslaught of the storm.

“It was pitch black,” she noted. “The rain was unbelievable, it was coming sideways. We saw the trees bending.”

On Tuesday, representatives from the Occupational Health and Safety Administration and Vortex Lining Systems were surveying the scene. Texas-based Vortex has a contract with the village for maintenance of a pipe that carries water from St. Joseph Creek through the downtown area, according to village records.

· Daily Herald reporter Susan Sarkauskas contributed to this report.