Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (AP) ― Record rainfall on Saturday stranded motorists, temporarily shut down the major roadway to O'Hare International Airport and caused the cancellation of one of the city's largest ethnic festivals.

The torrential rains also led the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District to open the Chicago Lock, reversing the flow of the Chicago River into Lake Michigan for only the third time in five years, said district spokeswoman Jill Horst. The move was meant to lower water levels along 76 miles of local rivers, creeks and tributaries, Horst said, and resulted in a 12-inch drop in the Chicago River's level.

"The water going into the lake is approximately 99 percent rainwater and storm water runoff," Horst said. "Less than 1 percent of it is sewage."

The National Weather Service said the 3.2 inches rainfall at O'Hare by 7 a.m. Saturday morning broke the 2.62 inches record for overnight-to-morning rainfall set in 1936.

The deluge also forced the cancellation of Chicago's Little Village Festival, the annual celebration on the city's Southwest side that celebrates Mexican Independence Day. Last year the festival drew more than 400,000 people. Mona Saldi, the Little Village Chamber of Commerce director of special events, said overnight rainfall soaked the festival grounds, turning the carnival and food vendor areas "into a swamp."

Nevertheless, festival organizers vowed to hold Sunday's scheduled parade.

Getting around by car and public transportation was difficult. Interstate 190, the major traffic artery into O'Hare, was closed for nearly one hour as flooding made portions of the roadway impassable. The nearby Edens Expressway was closed in both directions at Pratt Street, with local, county and state police diverting vehicles stranded for hours onto side streets, said Illinois State Police Master Sgt. S. Nowak said.

On the city's South Side, flooding on Interstate 94 at 130th Street resulted in traffic being reduced from three-to-two lanes in each direction, Nowak said. Much of the flooding is near roadway construction areas, said Mike Claffey, an Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman.

Claffey said maintenance crews were "out in force" clearing debris from drainage systems and inspecting pumping equipment. He said motorists should avoid travel through construction areas and expect travel delays if the rains continue.

Flights from and to Houston were canceled because of Hurricane Ike, and the Chicago Department of Aviation reported flight delays at O'Hare of an hour or more. Dozens of flights were canceled at O'Hare due to weather. United Airlines spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said up to 90 of the airlines 468 flights were expected to be canceled or rescheduled with many passengers being automatically rebooked on other flights.

Public transportation in the city also felt the impact of the weekend's rains. Flooding near O'Hare caused the Chicago Transit Authority to suspend Blue Line rail service into the airport. The Blue Line was operating as far as the Rosemont station, where shuttle buses were used to transport passengers to and from O'Hare.

The CTA also reported the Yellow Line service halted because of flooding along Niles Road, where shuttle buses were used to transport passengers. The Green Line was also a flooding casualty, with service from the South Side into the Loop ending at 35th Street.

(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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