Sep 14, 2008 9:27 pm US/Central
Residents In Shock Over Water Damage
DES PLAINES, Ill. (CBS) ―
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A McDonald's Restaurant is hit with flooding in Des Plaines, Ill.
CBS
In the northwest suburbs, hundreds of people are spending their second night sandbagging, cleaning up, or sleeping away from home.
CBS 2's Mike Puccinelli talked to residents shocked at what's become of their town.
River Road in Des Plaines, Ill. is more than living up to its name today as the river poured over its banks right into a shopping district threatening the first McDonalds ever built and leaving the White Castle ringed by a temporary moat.
The only traffic Sunday was foot traffic as pedestrians braved waters that proved too much for many cars, but just right for barrels which were picked up and sent floating along the road.
And while barrels drifted aimlessly, many felt the floodwaters were aimed right at them.
"It's nuts, it's crazy," said evacuee Danny Yonan.
It's the kind of reaction you get after your family is forced to weather the worst single day rainfall in the history of Chicagoland -- rain making its presence felt in many a Des Plaines basement.
"The basement is probably ten feet high. It's fully loaded. It's like a swimming pool," Yonan said
In the past 24 hours, the Des Plaines River level has risen by more than five feet. It's now more than half a foot higher than it's ever been -- shutting down normally busy Rand Road and impacting 2,500 homes in Des Plaines alone.
"We'll just pack up some stuff and we'll go. We'll figure out where to go then," said
Andrew Wijas and his family are among those forced to evacuate. Wijas tried to hold out as long as he could.
"I was trying to fight it," he said. "I had five pumps going and it just couldn't keep up anymore, the water was rising too much."
And he's not alone. All along the river Sunday, people were jumping into boats and abandoning their homes.
"Couple hundred homes underwater or close to it -- with basement flooding or what not," recounts Des Plaiines Police Chief Jim Prandini.
"Down in our basement, everything is floating," said evacuee Jackie Wijas. "I didn't know refrigerators know how to float. It hasn't reached our first floor yet and our whole back yard is the swimming pool we only wanted."
Wijas admits that while she's laughing Sunday, she spent much of Saturday crying after she and her father realized that there was nothing they could do to prevent the river from invading their home.
The Des Plaines police chief says in the suburb alone, there were a couple hundred homes with flooding.
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