Chicago Weather: Flooding Concerns Mount; Up To 6 Inches Of Rain Already This Week, With More On The Way
CHICAGO (CBS) -- With more than 5 inches of rain already in some areas, the wet weather is making it pretty miserable in the western and southwestern suburbs and northwest Indiana.
Parts of the Des Plaines River and Du Page River have flooded from the persistent rain over the past four days. The Little Calumet River also has flooded in northwest Indiana.
The Naperville Riverwalk has been closed since Tuesday, after the DuPage River overflowed its banks.
Authorities have reminded drivers if they see large areas of standing water on the road, they should turn around, rather than risk flooding your car. Even 12 inches of water can carry away smaller cars.
Water does not mess around. Do not attempt to cross floodwaters, whether on foot or in a vehicle. #TurnAroundDontDrown #ilwx #ILtraffic pic.twitter.com/JssE1qjac3
— IDOT_Illinois (@IDOT_Illinois) May 1, 2019
High-standing water shut down parts of Southwest Highway, Wolf Road, and 135th Street in Orland Park, Palos Hills, Palos Park, and Palos Heights.
A large sinkhole in the middle of Southwest Highway in Palos Park might be helping the water recede off the road, but it's not doing much for drivers.
In south suburban Matteson, the intersection of Governors Highway and Vollmer Road was closed due to flooding.
Illinois Route 53 also has been shut down between Butterfield Road and Park Boulevard near the Morton Arboretum in Lisle.
City crews in Lisle have been using pumps to remove standing water from Burlington Avenue, which runs virtually parallel to Saint Joseph Creek, a branch of the DuPage River.
Tom Lubawski said flooding is coming from all directions, making it virtually impossible to protect his house.
"The crawl space is all filled up right now, and the back yard is flooded, but we've had this before, so we're just hoping it doesn't get all the way into the house like it did last time. We had to leave the house by boat five, six years ago," he said.
He said the village was supposed to raise his house, and FEMA was supposed to help him get out of the danger zone, but that hasn't happened yet.
Over the past four days, the Chicago area has had 2 to 6 inches of rain, with up to 1.25 inches more coming from another round of showers on Thursday.
A flash flood watch has been issued for the entire Chicago area until 5 p.m. Thursday.
The rain should finally subside Thursday afternoon, and dry weather should settle in through the start of next week. Warmer weather also is on the way, as temperatures should reach the 60s and 70s this weekend.