Midwest residents felt the wrath of Hurricane Ike this weekend as rains made their way up the corridor of the country pelting Illinois and Indiana spurring the Illinois governor to call for a state of emergency for Cook County.
The declaration came after two days of record hard rainfall that has swollen rivers, filled upstorm water systems and forced the evacuations of at least 1,000 residents, particularly in Chicago’s south suburban area, as well as in Indiana.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich issued a statement Sunday, September 14, saying the state will assist local agencies with recovery efforts. Sunday’s emergency declaration for Cook County also will help suburbs get federal assistance to recover from the flooding, the governor said in an account on Channel 7, ABC-TV News Web site.
Expressways were closed due to flooding and many are not yet opened. North of Chicago on the Edens Expressway several ramps on and off blocked off due to flooding. In the southern suburbs the Bishop Ford Freeway from 95th to Interstate 80 was closed. The Borman is also shut down from Calumet to Klein Avenue in northwest Indiana in both directions, the Illinois Department of Transportation reported. Closure backed up traffic for miles.
Many schools in Chicago and south in Indiana remained closed Monday as forecasts for drier, warmer weather for the rest of the week were issued by the National Weather Service.
Meanwhile Indiana was feeling the affects of heavy rains and wind. In Munster, Indiana one hospital was evacuated and another put on Code Orange, meaning it was readying staff for a possible evacuation. Many homeowners also chose to leave their homes when water was reaching the top steps of the basements.
On the northwest end of the metro area, the Des Plaines River in Cook County was expected to crest at just over 10 feet. At this writing no word on whether it did.
The Chicago Tribune confirmed that more than 1,000 evacuations were made in the region with some families being rescued by boat. The scene was scarily reminicent of those coming from Galveston and Houston, Texas.
Insurance Journal contacted the Insurance Services Office (ISO) and its Property Claim Services Unit (PCS) regarding the flooding and disaster insured loss information available for the Midwest.
“PCS certainly recognizes the extent of damage the hurricane caused ineastern Texas and western Louisiana. PCS is also evaluating the extent of insured damage that the remnants of Ike caused as it moved away fromthe Gulf Coast and through the Midwest and into the lower Great Lakes region. Flooding and windy conditions caused additional damage to insured property, and PCS is gathering information about damage reported in these affected areas,” said Gary Kerney, asistant vice president of ISO’s Property Claim Services Unit. Kerney said more information would be available in coming weeks.
Region V of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spokesperson Cat Langel said that “FEMA officials are in close contact with state counterparts in Illinois and Indiana, and FEMA has sent liaisons to state emergency operations centers in both Illinois and Indiana.”
FEMA is actively monitoring the situation, Langel said.
Clean up and recovery will continue into this week, local news outlets said. A record 6.64 inches of rain fell in one day breaking the record for Illinois. The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Chicago released 30 billion gallons of storm water and sweage into Lake Michigan on Sunday, bringing the the two day total to 85-90 billion gallons, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The Chicago Tribune and ABC-TV, Channel 7 News contributed to this story.
Topics Flood Illinois Homeowners
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