- Title: Flash floods hit Chicago metro area after torrential rain storm
- Date: 11th September 2022
- Summary: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 11, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROBERT DALY - CHICAGOAN/BASEMENT FLOODED DURING DOWNPOUR, SAYING: "I woke up, I started to make a coffee. I went down to the basement and everything was fine. Twenty minutes later, our basement was flooded and water was cascading out of the toilet onto the floor in our basement - our finished basement."
- Embargoed: 25th September 2022 22:15
- Keywords: CHI CHICAGO DOWNPOUR FLOOD FLOODING FLOODS ILLINOIS RAIN RAINING TORRENTIAL US USA WATER WEATHER
- Location: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES
- City: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES
- Country: USA
- Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Floods,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA002456311092022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The National Weather Service on Sunday (September 11) issued a flash flood warning for part of northeastern Illinois, including Chicago's northern metro area, after heavy rains flooded viaducts, stranded cars, and sent water surging into basements.
"I went down to the basement and everything was fine," said longtime Chicago homeowner Robert Daly. "20 minutes later, our basement was flooded and water was cascading out of the toilet onto the floor in our basement - our finished basement."
Chicagoans shared photos and videos on social media of cars partially submerged beneath underpasses and plumes of water shooting up from sidewalks.
"This is the 5th time in 4 years that we've had a flood in our basement," said Daly. "So, I got the drill down, I get out the pumps, I get out the mops. I clean it up, but you know, I've been to the city about 2 or 3 times to say, 'you need to fix this storm sewer here'. So far, I haven't gotten any positive reaction from the city about this."
Even after the heaviest rain had ended by around 11 a.m. CT (1600GMT), the National Weather Service (NWS) warned that roads would remain flooded until the water receded.
The city on Twitter urged residents to avoid driving through standing water on streets, viaducts and low-lying areas.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change here, or the IPCC, predicts more extreme flooding for the Midwest.
Extreme rainfall events - "very local, very intense, and hard to predict" - have increased in recent years, according to Chicago's water management office.
Such rains can dump 2 inches (5 cm) per hour on a neighborhood, overwhelming local sewers, filling mains and pushing water into residents' basements via private drains.
As a result, the city has begun installing water blockers on catch basins that prevent sewers from flooding but can worsen street floods.
(Produced by: Eric Cox, Njuwa Maina) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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