Residents hope worst of flooding over

Relief can't come soon enough for Dale Miller, whose Atwood Park subdivision home is in the heart of the Fox Lake flood zone.

He sandbagged and pumped water for about a week before declaring defeat and shut off the pumps.

"Oh, yeah, I'm sick of the flooding," Miller said, standing in 3 feet of water outside his home. "My basement is completely full. I just got tired of fighting it."

He'll pump out the water and power wash once the flooding subsides.

"What else can I do?" he asked.

Officials are urging property owners battling flood waters along the Chain O' Lakes and Des Plaines River to hang on.

Ed Lescher, director of the Fox Lake Emergency Services Disaster Agency, said clean-up can't begin until the Chain crests in a day or two and water starts to recede.

"We don't really have a clean up plan in place at this time because the water hasn't crested here," Lescher said. "We have discussed what clean up efforts will entail, but we aren't ready to make those plans official until the water starts to drop."

Water levels in New Munster, Wis., crested Saturday at 15 feet and dropped to about 14 feet. It should take about 36 hours for the crest to hit the Chain unless it rains Wednesday, as predicted by the National Weather Service.

Fox Lake sits at just under 7 feet above normal pool, up from 6.8 late Sunday. Flood stage is about 5.5 feet over normal summer levels.

Subdivisions in Fox Lake and Antioch Township have been hardest hit in the last week, along with areas along the Fox River in Lake and McHenry counties.

Lescher estimates about 100 homes in Fox Lake and 400 around the Chain are affected.

In Gurnee, officials said Des Plaines River flood levels may be dropping, but urged residents to keep sandbags in place, especially in the flood zone -- just east of Milwaukee Avenue and Route 132.

Friedl said village officials are anxiously watching weather forecasts. While the river was a little over 9 feet Monday, an inch of new rain would cause it to rise by at least another foot.

"If it (the rain) hit to the north of us, not good," he said. "If it hits on top of us, also not good."

There is some good news,

Officials with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources see progress.

Water hydrologist Rita Lee said dams in McHenry and Algonquin are pushing more water downstream than has been coming into the system from Wisconsin.

Lee said about 4,500-cubic-feet per second is coming into the Chain from the north, but 5,940 cubic feet per second is being sent down river toward Elgin and, eventually, the Illinois River.

Those numbers, she said, indicate the Chain will drop to more manageable levels soon.