Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― For the first time ever, crews have sandbagged Foster Avenue all the way to Kedzie. The unprecedented flood waters were caused by record rainfall and locks which were opened in the northern suburbs to relieve the pressure there.

For area resident Marie Caraway, whose basement is being pumped out by water department crews, this is reminiscent of the 1986 flood.

"It's worse than it was in '86 or '87," Caraway said. "There's more water than there was then."

While the Chicago Department of Water Management has been doing the lion's share of storm related response, the city's Department of Streets & Sanitation has been assisting Water Management with the clean-up of storm related debris and also with the pumping out of flooded basements, a release Monday afternoon from Streets and Sanitation said.

Streets and Sanitation employees have also been going door-to-door "with what is essentially a task force of key related city departments (Water Management, Streets & Sanitation, Environment, Health, OEMC, etc.) and private sector utilities such as Peoples Gas and ComEd," the release said, to homes that have been heavily flooded and damaged by rising waters and need to undergo safety evaluations.

City workers aren't the only ones working around the clock. Joy and Tony Rodriguez, who once lived in the neighborhood, have returned with essentials like bread, milk and juice to help out their former neighbors.

"It's pretty bad because they had no light until recently… no power, water in their house… you know, it's just the Christian thing to do," Tony Rodriguez said.

As for Caraway, this is a humbling process she knows all too well.

"I think it takes a few weeks before it really dries out. You have to run fans and circulate the air," she said.

But, she said, four generations of her family live in Albany Park, and she wouldn't think of moving.

All but 75 houses affected by the weekend's rainfall and flooding in the Albany Park neighborhood have had their power restored, the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications reported Monday night.
Residents who were still without power as of about 8:20 p.m. were along West Carmen and Foster avenues; North Avers and Springfield avenues, a release from OEMC said.

Residents in that area can call (312) 743-INFO for details on mail service, relocations information and more, the release said.

Residents in the Albany Park Neighborhood who are not in the impacted area but still find themselves still without power are advised to go to Argyle and Lawndale, where Com Ed has a representative who can help them get their power restored.

There have been 188 tree emergencies (damage to trees in the public way, limbs and branches -- not necessarily entire downed trees), since Saturday, according to Streets and Sanitation.

There have been 85 traffic signals knocked out since the rain began and 13 light poles damaged, the release said.

The city has also received 34 reports of wires down. These are wires to city poles or street lights, not utility company wires.

And as of 3 p.m. Monday, there have been 202 entire blocks in the city where all the street lights were out, mainly due to water or moisture penetrating the cabinets or control centers, the release said.
All city residents who still are experiencing storm-related damage are urged to call 311 to report the damage.

Residents Urged To Be Cautious, Thorough In Cleanup
The soggy contents of basements are visible on lawns and in alleys in Chicago and all over the suburbs. Experts say residents are doing the right thing by getting rid of their damaged furniture, carpeting and other items.

For the past three days the Buccola family has done little else but clean their water-logged Skokie basement.

"We came down the stairs and the carpet was dark, and just stepped on it and it was just 'squish,'" Karen Buccola said.

The family will try to save what they can after ripping up the carpet and then cleaning to stave off mold.

Karen Buccola said her insurance company would not cover the damages because the basement flood is being caused by groundwater.

Cleaning up is an exhausting and sometimes overwhelming task for flood victims like the Buccolas. And there are hundreds of them in the Chicago area and beyond.

If insurance allows, many flood victims will be able to use a professional cleanup service, which can cost thousands of dollars.

"We have six trucks out, and we have a waiting list of 85 people," said Vince Caffarello, president of Duraclean.

He said flood cleanup can be difficult. Besides getting rid of water, properly dehumidifying the air and scrubbing down hard surfaces with a disinfectant or 15 percent bleach solution, Caffarello said victims should get rid of all soft objects soaked by the flood.

"You don't know if you're getting sewer runoff," he said. "We have contaminated water everyplace. The water's come out of the streams, it's come down the streets. You're picking up everything."

With that in mind Caffarello said it's also important for flood victims to check the air in their homes with a moisture meter periodically over the next few days.

With the cooler weather, however, people don't need to worry as much about the development of mold over the next 48 to 72 hours.

Tetanus shots will be available to Skokie residents who may have been exposed during the recent flooding.

The Skokie Health Department is offering the Tetanus shots for residents who have not had the shot in the last 10 years or five years if they have incurred a puncture wound, according to release Monday from the Village of Skokie.

For an appointment contact the health department, (847) 933-8257.

CBS 2's Rob Johnson in Chicago and Dana Kozlov in Skokie and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.

(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

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