Friday, May 10, 2013
Gov. Pat Quinn is pushing for 11 Illinois counties to be named major disaster areas.
- GOVERNMENT
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Friday, May 10
Governor Pat Quinn today asked President Barack Obama to declare 11 Illinois counties major disaster areas following the storms and heavy rainfall that moved through the state in mid-April. If the governor’s request is approved, residents in those counties will be eligible to apply for grants and low-interest federal loans to help recover from the historic flooding. Counties included in the request are Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Fulton, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, McHenry and Will. “We must do everything possible to help families impacted by this historic flooding as they rebuild their lives,” Governor Quinn said. “Today we are making a strong case to President Obama to help expedite the review and approval process so the people of …
Thursday, April 18, 2013
From interstates to local roads, our map provides updates on closures and high-standing water in your area.
From the Wisconsin border to the south side of Chicago and into the western suburbs, local roads, interstates and highways were closed Thursday because of flooding. Click through the pins above to see which roads in your area — or on your route to and from work today — have been closed due to flooding or have high-standing water. Police are encouraging drivers to avoid roadways with standing water. If you come upon an area with high-standing water or that is closed, add that information to our map by visiting this link. Otherwise, let us know about the closure by commenting below. Drivers are asked to beware of high-standing water on roadways. The water on a roadway can be deeper than it appears and can cause a vehicle to stall or be …
Several inches of rain in the Chicagoland area has closed some local and regional roads.
Updated 9:20 a.m. Sites to check for delays, road or school closures, severe weather warning: Updated 8:53 a.m. Close to 500 flights have been canceled at O'Hare Airport with the majority of cancellations on American, United and their regional partners, USA Today reported. Airlines are reporting delays averaging 30 minutes for flights in and out of O'Hare and delays averaging 45 minutes at Midway, Chicago Tribune reported. Road closures in and around O'Hare International Airport: Earlier Heavy rains overnight caused flooding this morning on the Edens, Eisenhower and Kennedy expressways in the Chicago area, reported the Chicago Tribune. Local roads are not much better. Grand Avenue in Gurnee is closed, according to WGN News. Route 41 in …
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Trustees directed the village engineer to seek other cost-saving opportunities within the project, which proposes installing storm sewers under Willow Road.
Winnetka trustees could consider installing new storm sewers beneath Willow Road to ease the village’s flooding issues after hearing a presentation by the village engineer Tuesday. The proposed Willow Road Tunnel project would install an eight-foot diameter storm sewer underneath Willow Road from Glendale Avenue to Lake Michigan that would use gravity to move water from a roughly 900-acre drainage area in west Winnetka eastward toward Lake Michigan. “The various hurdles that I could imagine and (the engineering firm) could imagine would stop this projects in its track don’t seem to be an issue in terms of the ultimate piece of the project,” said Village Engineer Steve Saunders. Winnetka contracted engineering firm Christopher B. Burke …
42.105109
-87.733644
Winnetka Village Hall
510 Green Bay Rd, Winnetka, IL
/articles/winnetka-considers-a-34-6-million-stormwater-tunnel
1284823
/locations/7841801
Friday, September 7, 2012
The first step toward fixing Winnetka's flooding problem is approved after more than 1,000 homes were destroyed last year in the village.
An almost $18,000 contract to study the flooding problem in Winnetka was approved Thursday night by the Village Council, according to Winnetka Talk, and officials are hoping it will fix the village’s issues with excessive rainfall once and for all. This comes after Winnetka residents attended a village council meeting last August demanding action. On July 23, 2011, the village saw the "largest single-day rainfall since records began in 1871," resulting in massive floods and property damage. The newly approved study, which was awarded to Christopher B. Burke Engineering, will look at an 80-acre plot of land south of Tower Road between the Winnetka Golf Course and Hibbard Road. “This area was studied in 2001, and 10-year design improvements…
Friday, July 20, 2012
About one out of every four Winnetka homes was damaged in some way by the flooding in July, 2011.
Nearly a year after a July 23 storm caused widespread flooding throughout Winnetka, Village Engineer Steve Saunders made a presentation to the Village Council Tuesday, updating them on the progress made and the many improvements still to come. As many as 1,100 of the village’s 4,000 homes were damaged in some way by the flooding last July, when some 6.6 inches of rain swamped the area in less than 24 hours, Sanders said. “This is as intense a flood as I have seen in my 25 years with the village,” Saunders said. The village had already been working on improving its storm water management systems after significant floods in 2007 and 2008, but Saunders says those would have done little to improve situation in 2011. Now staff is looking …
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Improvements include a massive tunnel project to funnel water to Lake Michigan.
After a three-and-a-half hour study session Tuesday evening, the Winnetka Village Council took big steps toward finding solutions to the area's flooding troubles. Thomas Burke, Jr., of Christopher B. Burke Engineering, presented a 25-page packet outlining the flood risk reduction assessment for the village, encompassing drainage improvements and conceptual plans, as well as cost estimates. Areas studied include North of Willow Road, South of Willow Road, the Winnetka Avenue underpass, the Cherry Street outlet, the Spruce Street outlet (including the Lloyd Park Outlet and Tower Road area), the ravine and Greenwood Avenue. Earlier: Winnetka's Flooding Bouts are Legendary Trustee Christopher Rintz congratulated Burke’s firm on a “job well …
42.108306
-87.73257
Winnetka Community House
620 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka, IL
/articles/council-reviews-possible-flood-prevention-plans
1704198
/locations/5574908
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Additionally, the BP special use permit was adopted after conditions were imposed.
Missed the Winnetka Village Council meeting on Tuesday? Patch has you covered. The Winnetka Village Council worked through a short agenda in about an hour and a half Tuesday evening. Stormwater Engineering Evaluation Program for Homeowners As promised at the Sept. 20 village council meeting, officials discussed the parameters of a program for homeowners to have their property evaluated for flood risk and prevention possibilities. Earlier: Northfield Considers Utility Fee For Improved Stormwater Management The village could take two routes with the program, according to Steve Saunders, public works director and village engineer. 1. Offer a list of engineering firms that could do the analysis, a route that Wilmette takes. There would also be…
42.10234
-87.730748
Winnetka Police Department
410 Green Bay Rd, Winnetka, IL
/articles/winnetka-council-roundup-stormwater-plan-dominates-meeting
1285172
/locations/5529149
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
A look back at the village's damp legacy and what the powers that be have done to correct it.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Matt Klinkert
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Wednesday, September 14, 2011
It's no secret, Winnetka, there is an age-old problem. Since the village's mucky beginnings in the mid-19th century, floodwater has invaded homes, enveloped streets and transformed backyards into backwaters. To add to that list, it has disabled cars, submerged basements, turned major roadways into canoe thoroughfares and even delayed, by two months, one of the largest floodwater mitigation projects undertaken in U.S. history: the creation of the Skokie Lagoons from 1933 to 1942. Read more: After the July Flood: Winnetka Prodded Into Action “We had to put everything in the basement, that could be moved, up [to the first] floor,” recalled one resident in Winnetka Talk, during the 1938 flood that dumped 7.5 inches of rainwater that delayed …
42.10239
-87.7336
Winnetka Historical Society
411 Linden St, Winnetka, IL
/articles/winnetkas-flooding-bouts-are-legendary
1296399
/locations/5345073
42.104597
-87.733464
Winnetka Public Library
768 Oak St, Winnetka, IL
/articles/winnetkas-flooding-bouts-are-legendary
1296398
/locations/5345074
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Village Council is quick to hire flood prevention planner after residents rail at meeting.
New plans for floodwater prevention in Winnetka are in the works, after the Village Council unanimously approved spending up to $50,000 to draft a proposal. Shortly after hearing outraged residents accuse the board of "analysis paralysis" during the public comment section of a village meeting at Winnetka Community House on Tuesday night, the Council was quick to act. Christopher B. Burke Engineering of Rosemont got the job of drawing up plans within two months. “I'm in the hospital, project-management business,” one irate resident said, “and billion-dollar projects have been started and finished in the time that we've taken to review this storm water project.” Read more: Winnetka Residents Demand Action on Flooding Tuesday's meeting …
42.108306
-87.73257
Winnetka Community House
620 Lincoln Ave, Winnetka, IL
/articles/after-the-flood-winnetka-prodded-into-action
1704198
/locations/5019558
Jman146
10:35 am on Saturday, May 11, 2013
Dan it's dangerous to have a expansion plug as I've witnessed myself from this previous flood 3 weeks ago. The pressure was so high that it forced the sewage back up to come out of our basement toilet and tub. If you don't have one in basement...the water pressure can bring up the backup to main floor bathroom toilet. Fortunately that didn't happen to me. While cleaning up the flood though...the … more ›