Several inches of rain fell throughout the Chicago area as thunderstorms swept through Monday night and early Tuesday.
Nearly 1.9 inches of rain fell at O’Hare, with 3 to 4 inches reported in parts of southern Cook County into Lake County, Indiana, according to the National Weather Service.
CTA Purple Line service was temporarily suspended due to downed tree limbs from the storms and street flooding was reported in parts of the southwest suburbs, city officials said.
From Saturday to Tuesday morning, there have been over 5,600 calls for flooded basements, according to the Office of Emergency Management and Communications.
Highways flooded as well, according to the Illinois State Police. Standing water persists in the following areas:
- I-55 southbound to Joliet Road, there is still about a foot of standing water however vehicles are going through at a slow speed.
- I-55 northbound is enduring standing water across all lanes at Cicero Avenue.
- I-290 eastbound at Oakley Avenue and on I-290 at the eastbound ramp near the split to I-94 southbound at Taylor exit, there is standing water in half the lane, while standing water is also affecting one lane on I-290 eastbound at Laramie Avenue.
- I-80 westbound to Center Street reported 2-3 inches of standing water, but traffic is getting through.
Meanwhile, the Chicago’s OEMC is partnering with the Illinois Management Agency to gather extra flooding information through a self-assessment survey to determine whether additional options can be pursued to help residents, OEMC said.
Mayor Brandon Johnson will visit some of the communities impacted by recent flooding on the Southwest Side and plans to hold a press conference on the issue later Tuesday morning.
Over 130 flights were canceled at O’Hare with over 120 more delayed as of 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to FlightAware. At Midway, over 20 flights were delayed.
The stretch of storms were connected to a larger system that brought similar storms to the area this past weekend.
“We essentially had this upper disturbance that was just kind of meandering about the region for several days,” Kevin Doom, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said. “It kept pumping a lot of moisture into the region and that’s why we saw such widespread, torrential rainfall.”
Doom anticipates a break from the storms this week.
“Best chances, I’d say right now we’re dry through the weekend.”