Flooding slows morning commute in Chicago, flood advisory issued for much of area

The National Weather Service Thursday morning issued flood and dense fog advisories for much of northern Illinois as flooding caused traffic crashes and congestion on area expressways.

The flood advisory was issued about 6:30 a.m. after the weather service warned that a cycle of rain every 24 hours or so this week could result in ponding near any leaf-clogged drains. Multiple reports of flooding on area expressways had come in by the time of the alert.

“A Flood advisory means minor flooding along waterways and other poor drainage areas is imminent or may already be occurring. Persons in the advisory area should use caution and avoid flood waters,” meteorologist Matt Friedlein wrote on an advisory.

The inbound Eisenhower Expressway was down at least one lane following a three-vehicle crash near Racine Avenue; all lanes of the inbound Dan Ryan Expressway at 18th Street were closed following a crash; two crashes on the Tri-State Expressway, one at Route 173 and the other at Mannheim Road, both resulted in fatalities, according to WGN-TV.

The weather service said between 1.5 and 3 inches of rain fell from Wednesday night to Thursday morning, including into the Chicago metro area. While the dense fog advisory was expected to mainly affect areas south of Interstate 80, some fog was expected near the city as well.

Counties that were under at least a partial flood advisory include Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, LaSalle, Lee and Will.

Check back for updates.

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