DuPage County Board Chairman Robert Schillerstrom has declared DuPage County a disaster area in light of this weekend’s flooding, which has affected numerous communities.

“This declaration will enable DuPage County communities affected by this weekend’s floods every available means to secure federal reimbursement for the work they did over the weekend as well as in their damage assessments,” Schillerstrom said. “Our Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management is today working with every community in preparing their damage assessments.”

While there were communities affected by floods, Schillerstrom noted that throughout the weekend the county’s emergency operations center was open and operating in order to assist local communities in DuPage that requested help.

The office distributed more than 105,000 sandbags and provided emergency lighting for the village of Addison. The county’s Transportation Division assisted with the distribution and placement of road barricades, and the county’s Stormwater Management team opened all of the county’s flood control devices.

The Wood Dale-Itasca Reservoir was full as of Monday afternoon, and the Elmhurst Quarry Flood Control Facility was at 75 percent of capacity, county officials said.

Early Monday, Gov. Rod Blagojevich declared state disaster areas in Cook, DuPage, DeKalb, Grundy, Kane, LaSalle and Will counties.

Addison/Wood Dale

The weekend’s heavy rains were being felt Monday as some Addison residents were still out of their homes after being evacuated and several road closures remained in effect.

Public schools in Wood Dale are closed today as a result of the flooding, district officials said.
Addison Public Works Director Greg Brunst said road closures include Lake Street from Route 83 west to Villa Avenue, Villa south to Fullerton Avenue, Swift Road near Pampered Chef Drive, and Palmer Avenue.

Addison public relations assistant Doree Krage said the village asked residents on the southeast portion of town to evacuate Saturday morning, which impacted 350 single-family homes and 200 multifamily residential units along Green Oaks Court. Exactly how many of those residents left their homes is unknown.

“We were using Addison Trail High School as a shelter area for families,” Krage said. “Now most have been shifted over to Centennial Recreation Center.”

Village public relations director Don Weiss said residents will be allowed back to their homes once the areas are accessible. Residents in hardest hit areas are being asked to contact the village’s Community Development Office to schedule home inspections before being allowed back in.

“This could take several days to accomplish,” Weiss said.

Brunst said much of the flooding is along Salt Creek, which has crested, but waters have not yet started receding. Over the next 12 hours, much of the efforts will be  sandbagging, and trying to get some residents back into their homes, he said.

Schools in Addison are open today as they have not seen any flood damage, Addison School District 4 spokeswoman Diane Junokas said.

Merri Beth Kudrna, curriculum director for Wood Dale School District 7, said all three district schools are closed today and that classes will resume Tuesday.

While no flooding was reported at the schools or on their properties, Kudrna said the reason for the closings was due to buses not being able to get through certain areas.

In Wood Dale, both Irving Park Road and Thorndale Avenue near Wood Dale Road are one lane in each direction, and portions of Devon Avenue and Addison Road are closed. Elizabeth Street near Wood Dale Road is also closed.

Bolingbrook/Lisle/Romeoville/Woodridge

Rain forced the closure of a few roads near the East Branch of the DuPage River in Bolingbrook and Lisle during the weekend, and in Bolingbrook organizers of the 43rd annual Pathways Parade canceled Sunday’s event and rescheduled it for Sept. 28.

But for the most part the heavy rains that caused severe flooding in northwest suburbs and the north side of Chicago on Sunday did not cause major problems in the Bolingbrook area.

In Bolingbrook, authorities closed Royce Road on Sunday just east of Illinois Route 53 due to water on the pavement caused by overflow from the East Branch of the DuPage River, said Tony Torres, director of operations for the Bolingbrook Public Works Department.

“Steady rain caused the river to exceed its banks, there and the road is temporarily closed,” Torres said.

Torres said forecasts of three consecutive days of clear skies and sunshine could result in the reopening of the road by Tuesday or Wednesday.

Weber Road near Royce Road also was closed temporarily due to water on the pavement, but that road is now open.

About 6.25 inches of rain fell in Bolingbrook between Friday and Sunday night, said Bolingbrook village engineer Tom Pawlowicz.

“We monitor at three sites around town, and we had between 6 inches at one location to 6.4 inches at another, so we averaged about 6.25 inches of rain,” Pawlowicz said.

In Lisle, Short Street was closed just east of Illinois Route 53, and school bus traffic going to and from Lisle High School had to be re-routed this morning, said Sgt. Randy Johnson, spokesman for the Lisle Police Department.

Some residential flooding was reported in Lisle and Bolingbrook, but incidents were isolated and non-life threatening, said Johnson and Torres.

“In Bolingbrook, our run-off system is working very well. Although we have had a lot of rain, we are not experiencing serious issues at this time, just some clean up,” Torres said.

Torres said public works crews worked overtime throughout the weekend ensuring catch basins and inlets/outlets at area retention ponds were clear and free from obstructions.

Chris Bethel, director of public works for the village of Woodridge, said some flooding occurred on Woodridge Drive over the weekend, “but by the time our crews got out there it had already subsided.”

“Other than that, our system of retention and detention ponds, while full, handled the flow of water very well,” Bethel said.

The rain caused the cancellation of a varsity and junior varsity golf match between Romeoville High School and Plainfield Central High School as well as a junior varsity volleyball match between Romeoville High School and Plainfield South High School originally scheduled for Monday afternoon, said Larry Randa, spokesman for the Valley View School District.

Downers Grove/Westmont

Downers Grove Sanitary District officials said aggregate sewage flow levels reached an all-time high Saturday after remnants of Hurricane Ike pounded the Western Suburbs this weekend, flooding some intersections, basements and yards.

The district, which serves Downers Grove and the western half of Westmont, can process up to 110 million gallons of flow per day. The facility neared that capacity Saturday when it processed 102 million gallons, according to the facility’s General Manager Nick Menninga.

“We’ve never pumped that much flow,” Menninga said, adding that up to 100 calls came from residents seeking assistance with basement sewage backup.

Menninga said the District responded to all calls.

Westmont Public Works Director Steve May said the storm was the worst in the last 12 years as far as accumulation, but “Westmont faired well generally speaking.”

“It started Friday, and the problem with this storm was accumulation over time. Things (storm sewers, retention ponds, etc.) were full by midday Sunday and it didn’t stop raining until about 2 p.m.,” May said.

In downtown Westmont 6.25 inches of rain fell during the three-day downpour, May said, while in Downers Grove an unofficial total of 5.3 inches fell as of Sunday night according to the village.

For residents near retention ponds and creeks, the rain brought headaches and hassle in the form of flooded basements and soggy yards.

Downers Grove resident Rebecca Joers, who lives near Barth Pond at Patriots Park, began sandbagging her yard as the pond spilled its banks onto 55th Street.

“We went and got sandbags ourselves for our yard,” she said. “We were able to keep the water from going into our house.”

Some homes in the area didn’t fair as well.

Angela Daubaras, who lives near a detention pond at Adams and 39th streets, said about 2 inches of water spilled into her basement and “it was a complete lake across the yard.”

Her neighbor’s basement was still flooded on Monday when members of the Downers Grove Township Highway Department came to help pump out the water as a favor, despite the fact that the pond is outside its jurisdiction.

“The problem is once the retention ponds fill, the water had nowhere to go,” said Westmont Surface Water Protection District Board member Roland  Ryan, the jurisdiction responsible for the homes near the pond. “If the water has nowhere to go it has nowhere to go.”

ComEd officials said as of Tuesday morning, there were no outages remaining in Downers Grove or Westmont.

Elmhurst

Elmhurst saw backyard drainage issues, sewer back-ups and some street flooding as a result of the past weekend’s storms.

The city saw 7 inches of rain come down over a 30-hour time frame, said officials with the Chamber of Commerce, adding that the quarry took in storm water at a rate of nearly 1,100 cubic feet per second beginning Saturday morning.

The storm sewer and sanitary sewer systems did not malfunction, officials said, noting the back-ups and other effects occurred as capacity limits were reached on both systems.

Allied Waste will pick up flood-damaged materials around the city at no cost to residents, the chamber said.

Homes flooded during this past weekend’s storms may be eligible for an assessment reduction.

Deanna Wilkins, York Township assessor, said homeowners who sustained flood damage can call for a review of their property. She said a one-year reduction in a building’s assessed value is possible.

York Township includes all or parts of Elmhurst, Villa Park, Lombard, Oakbrook Terrace, Oak Brook, Downers Grove, Hinsdale and Westmont. Call (630) 627-3354 and a deputy assessor will go

Glen Ellyn/Wheaton

Lake Ellyn is back to within its banks after the weekend’s torrential downpour flooded nearby streets and homes.

As the remnants of Hurricane Ike flowed through the region, the low-lying areas in northwest Glen Ellyn were inundated by an overflowing Lake Ellyn. According to the National Weather Service, neighboring Wheaton received 7.5 inches of rain over the weekend.

“All the streets immediately surrounding Lake Ellyn were all shut down,” said Deputy Police Chief Bill Holmer.

Deputy Village Manager Curt Barrett said 60 homes reported flooding over the weekend, many of them in the area around the lake. He expected some businesses also experienced damage but might not have called it in.

Near Lake Ellyn, Glenbard West High School’s football field was completely submerged under water, and the weekend’s home game was postponed until this afternoon.

“Everything’s receded, even the football field,” Holmer said, adding that all roads are open too. “Now the lake is within its banks. High, but it’s not overflowing anymore.”

Warrenville

Bower Elementary School in Warrenville will remain closed Tuesday due to flooding.