Heavy rain snarls traffic, cancels flights
The Chicago area was pummeled early Wednesday with 3 to 5 inches of rain, closing the Edens Expressway for nearly four hours, canceling airline flights, flooding homes and suspending some rail service.
Metra suspended service on its Union Pacific Northwest Line Wednesday between McHenry and Crystal Lake. Officials said they hope train service will return to normal Thursday morning.
Cars stalled out in standing water near Pratt in northwest suburban Niles after attempting to pass through the water, forcing the Edens expressway to shut down,according to the Illinois State Police. By about 10 a.m., the Edens was reopened to both northbound and southbound traffic, police said.
The deluge flooded out the viaduct at Montrose and Lake Shore Drive, making it impassable. On Lake Shore itself about 6:50 a.m., the normally wide-open lanes were clogged with stop-andgo traffic near Fullerton.
While rain fell across the entire area, lands to the north of O’Hare Airport were saturated. Flights in and out of O’Hare were delayed up to an hour and more than 230 flights were canceled, officials said. At Midway Airport, some flights were delayed more than an hour and about 30 flights were canceled.
Flooding kept area emergency workers busy. For example, the Glenview fire department responded in the morning to roughly 55 calls for flooding and vehicle rescues while the police responded to 33 calls for traffic hazards.
Buffalo Grove Fire Department Chief Terry Vavra said they recorded .75 inches of water before midnight Tuesday, and another 3 inches by 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Staff reporters Jennifer Johnson, Bridget O’Shea, Todd Shields and Ronnie Wachter contributed to this report.