Still drying out from Sunday's deluge, some Northwest Side homeowners hit with more flooding
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Flash flooding from Wednesday night's storms is especially bad news for homeowners on the city's Northwest Side, where many are still drying out from Sunday's soggy weather.
The saying "when it rains it pours" is resonating with those homeowners now more than ever, with many of them out thousands of dollars in repairs and damages from the sewer water that seeps into their homes during heavy rainfall.
They're asking for the city to step in to prevent this from happening again
"I know the next storm is on its way, and I wonder what's coming next," Patrizia Acerra said.
Portage Park homeowners like her haven't recovered yet from the damage of Sunday's record rainfall.
"We got about three inches in our basement on Sunday," she said.
They're even still recovering from a big storm last fall.
"We had a lot more in September, and we had to do a complete remodeling," she said.
They're already bracing for what this new round of rainfall could mean for their homes and their wallets.
"There is only so much expense that you can put into your house before it's no longer tenable, before you have to leave, and the last thing I want to do is leave Chicago," Acerra said.
Across the street, neighbor Casey Lowman has fans going, and dehumidifiers on full blast, trying to soak up the city sewer water that flooded her basement on Sunday.
"We shouldn't have to be resigned to having wastewater in our homes anytime that there's heavy rain," Lowman said.
Many Portage Park residents are fed up, and demanding answers from the city.
"A lot of the frustration is what do people do? How do we fix it? How do we prevent it? And what the city is actually going to do from stop this from happening in the future?" Lowman said.
Meanwhile the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District is also grappling with the flooding, issuing an alert as more rain continues to pour down.
"Our reservoir and tunnel system from the past storm is still full," said MWRD commissioner Kari Steele. "We're asking that everyone delay running that dishwasher, washing dishes. Conserve water to bare necessities, just so we can make sure stormwater is getting to water reclamation."
A group of Portage Park residents sent a letter to Ald. Nicholas Sposato (38th) outlining their concerns, and they're asking for a sit-down to discuss the issue. So far, no date on when that will happen.
CBS 2 has reached out to the city and the different alderpeople in the Portage Park area and we're still waiting to hear back.
