OVERNIGHT STORMS ADD TO FOX RIVER FLOOD WOES
The worst appeared to be over earlier this week for Algonquin residents, who had spent days building sandbag walls and bracing for high floodwaters.
The river was slowly starting to recede after cresting Tuesday at 12.4 feet — about a foot lower than initial projections — and Village President John Schmitt said the town was in “pretty good shape.”
But Fox River communities hit a setback when a wave of storms and heavy rainfall swept through the suburbs late Wednesday and into the next morning, causing water levels to rise and reach record flood stages in a matter of hours.
“We’re going back into emergency operations mode,” said Mike Kumbera, Algonquin’s assistant village manager. Storms also hit parts of the swollen Des Plaines River and Chain O’ Lakes, but more flooding is not expected in those areas.
Northern Illinois received 1 to 2.25 inches of rain over the Fox River watershed, according to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. About 1.4 inches of rain fell overnight in Algonquin, the effects of which worsened throughout the day, Schmitt said. The Fox River in Algonquin was at 12.8 feet by Thursday afternoon and is expected to climb to about 13 feet overnight, according to the National Weather Service. Flood stage at that point in the river is 9.5 feet.
Downstream in East and West Dundee, many riverfront houses and properties are in worse shape than earlier this week, officials said. West Dundee’s riverwalk is entirely underwater, and some businesses on First Street have begun taking on water through their foundations, Public Works Director Eric Babcock said.
Now, communities along the Fox River watershed are bracing for another round of storms, as a forecast for Friday into Saturday shows another 1 to 2 inches of rain could hit the area, according to the IDNR. For more suburban news, turn to the Daily Herald at dailyherald. com.