After more flooding in Chicago, how to combat intensity of storms fueled by climate change is top of mind
For the second time in four days, severe thunderstorms swept through parts of Chicago and suburban Cicero on Wednesday, dumping another 1 to 2 inches of rainfall on neighborhoods still trying to recover from Sunday’s downpour.
According to the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications, the city’s 311 service received more than 2,800 complaints related to basement, street and viaduct flooding throughout the day Wednesday and as of 11 a.m. Thursday. Nearly 2,100 of those were service requests related to water in the basement.
Some pockets of the metro area saw up to 3 inches of rain, said National Weather Service meteorologist Todd Kluber. But for those unfortunate enough to have gotten caught outside, it likely looked similar to the 3 to 7 inches of rain that hit the city and suburbs over the weekend because the soil is still waterlogged.
“Any heavy rain at this point can almost go straight to runoff instead of absorbing into the ground because the ground is still so saturated,” Kluber said. “Most of the time, (after) a couple of inches even in a short period, we see some minor flooding. But in this case, because we had a really saturated ground from this past weekend, it quickly allowed for some of that flooding to develop.”
Silvia Mazon said she was on her way Thursday morning to report damages to her Cicero home from Sunday’s flooding. Though she said she did not experience flooding from the storms Wednesday evening, her niece and other family members did.
“It’s concerning that this keeps happening over and over again,” Mazon said. She said she plans on going to a town hall meeting Tuesday with neighbors to continue demanding city officials step up and help them get financial support to start over again — not only homeowners, but also families renting basement apartments who have lost all their belongings.
Wednesday’s thunderstorms, during which more than 3 million people were under a flash flood warning, came hot on the heels of flash floods Sunday. According to the weather service, which called the weekend flooding “potentially life-threatening,” Cicero, Berwyn and some neighborhoods in Chicago each saw over 8 inches of rainfall that day.
The weekend storms also dampened plans for the NASCAR Chicago Street Race, when organizers were forced to postpone the Xfinity Series Loop 121 partway through on Saturday and then call it off Sunday. The start of the Cup Series Grant Park 220 on Sunday was delayed and the race shortened to 75 laps.
Much like the weekend flash floods, the midweek storm damaged homes and affected streets with standing water, flooded lanes and stranded vehicles.
“Once you start getting into the core of the metro, a very urbanized area, that’s where 2 inches really hit,” Kluber said. “The water’s got to go somewhere. And if it’s raining so hard — we’re seeing rainfall rates of half an inch in just 10 minutes, so there’s a lot of rain in a very, very short period of time — that’s where we start to see the problems.”
More research needed
Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford said research suggests that precipitation variability is increasing with climate change, which means that prolonged, dry periods are now interspersed with intense rainfall that causes flooding.
“This is sort of the issue when it comes to climate change. When we look at the overall prognosis in the Midwest for climate change, precipitation is kind of wetter overall,” he said. “But the real question is, even if we get wetter, will the characteristics of the rainfall continue to change? So it’s not just how much falls over a month or a year, but how that rain comes.”
Variability mainly concerns how much rain falls, how quickly it falls and over what time period it falls, Ford said. Understanding and being able to predict this variability is key to preparing resilient infrastructure, whether it be traditional, or gray, such as gutters and drains, blue infrastructure, such as ponds, lakes and streams, or green spaces, such as trees, parks and rain gardens.
“We really need more research, more work into improving the prediction model of rainfall frequency and intensity, because we need to be able to give the engineers and the urban planners and the adaptation professionals the numbers,” he said.
While recent rain events have caused damage and drawn much attention, they likely won’t have much of an impact on the drought Illinois has been experiencing this year, Ford said.
“We will need a consistent rain through July and August to continue improving and to avoid worsening agriculture and hydrology impacts,” he said. “Hypothetically, if we were to go another four weeks with very little rainfall — similar to June — we’d be in better shape because of that 8 inches of rain (on Sunday), but we’d still be seeing impact. So there’s a little bit of a road to recovery.”
The recent heavy rains and floods have raised tensions among residents and officials about disaster preparedness and response in terms of how homes and roads in Chicago and nearby suburbs are being protected. One such point of contention was the locks the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District uses to reverse the flow of the Chicago River when its level exceeds the elevation of Lake Michigan during extreme weather events.
According to an MWRD news release, during Sunday’s heavy rains, the elevation of the North Shore Channel and the Chicago River downtown exceeded that of Lake Michigan, so the gates were opened that afternoon allowing sewage and runoff to flow into Lake Michigan. The North Shore Channel gate was closed 7 ½ hours later, and the Chicago River gate was closed early Monday morning.
“The real problem, however, is the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, which only opened its drainage lines very late, again helping Chicago neighborhoods to drain first before opening the locks for suburban communities like Cicero,” said Ray Hanania, spokesperson for the town of Cicero, in a written statement to the Tribune. “Cicero has absolutely no control over these locks, which are controlled by the MWRD, which has one responsibility to manage rainwater drainage. With a $2 billion-plus budget, they don’t do an excellent job for the suburbs.”
The MWRD said in its news release that if it “were to open the lock and gates too early, Lake Michigan would have a tsunami effect, overtaking the river and flooding everything in its path in downtown Chicago.”
The city of Evanston issued statements closing all beaches to swimming Tuesday and Wednesday because of unsafe bacteria levels after the MWRD opened its stormwater gates Sunday.
According to a Chicago Park District spokesperson, the MWRD’s opening of the locks prompts an automatic swim ban at all city beaches until the locks close and testing determines that water quality meets the Environmental Protection Agency’s standards to reopen.
The swim ban was lifted Monday morning at all beaches based on testing results, except for Marion Mahoney Griffin Beach, where a ban remained in place until bacteria levels dropped.
As MWRD did not use the locks during Wednesday’s storms, all Chicago beaches were open for swimming Thursday morning. There was a swim advisory in place at Montrose Beach during the day, but that was because of surf and high waves.
Appealing for help
Local and state officials have appealed for help for those dealing with the aftermath of the storms.
In Chicago, state Rep. La Shawn Ford urged utility companies to pause shut-offs and offer grant assistance while residents handle the costs of cleanup and repairs.
“When I speak with impacted residents, I hear how many are struggling to choose between paying their bills and putting food on the table,” Ford said in a news release Thursday. “Especially for those who are on a fixed income or Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, we need to show compassion and come together to help get people back on their feet.”
Frank Aguilar, Cook County Board commissioner of the 16th District, said he met with several different city leaders to ask Gov. J.B. Pritzker to declare Cook County a disaster zone so residents can receive federal funding. For now, Berwyn and Cicero are collecting data on the damage.
After Sunday’s flooding, the mayor’s office in Berwyn called for a disaster declaration Monday because of extensive property damage, seeking responses from the Cook County Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security and the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.
Cicero Town President Larry Dominick designated Cicero a disaster area after Sunday’s floods. That declaration will enable the city to request aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. According to a news release, Dominick has obtained assistance from Cook County and is collaborating with state officials to acquire additional resources.
Aguilar, the county board commissioner, urged homeowners, business owners and renters from Cook County to report damages from the floods.
“Working-class people … are suffering, the alleys are packed with mattresses and other furniture that was destroyed,” he said.
At least for the next few days, no heavy rains are predicted for the Chicago area, according to Kubler, the meteorologist.
“Friday, at this point — at least through the daytime hours — looks dry,” he said. “You could see some showers trying to get into the area after dark on Friday. It will probably be, for most people, after bedtime, into the night.”
There is a potential for a thunderstorm through Saturday morning, but Sunday and Monday should be dry, Kubler said. “Our main focus would be later Tuesday, maybe Tuesday night,” he said, “for some rainfall, maybe a line of thunderstorms coming through.”
