Two days of heavy rainstorms cause DuPage River to overflow its banks in downtown Naperville
City workers spent part of Thursday hosing away the muck left on the steps beneath downtown Naperville’s Imburgia Fountain, the result of rainfall causing the DuPage River to overflow its banks.
The walkway below the brick staircase remained under several inches of water Thursday and much of the Riverwalk on both sides of the river’s west branch remained submerged after Naperville was hit with multiple rounds of thunderstorms Tuesday and Wednesday.
Over the course of those two days, water levels in the river rose more than two feet as north Naperville received 2.2 inches of rain, according to gauges at the Fawell Dam on the west branch of the DuPage River, south of McDowell Grove Forest Preserve.
Up until Tuesday, Naperville had received a total of 2 inches of rain over the last three months, according to the Fawell precipitation gauge.
The U.S. Drought Monitor’s weekly report issued Thursdays shows much of western DuPage and Will counties, including Naperville, remain under severe drought conditions. That report did not reflect the recent rainfall.
High river levels also stalled construction work Thursday on the Washington Street bridge because much of the area was under water.
Bill Novack, the city’s transportation, engineering and development director, said a cofferdam was built to divert and restrict the river flow so construction crews could work on replacing the bridge.
While the cofferdam raises water levels slightly upstream during normal conditions, during flooding events it’s designed to allow the surplus water to spill into what is the work area, he said.
A tornado warning was issued by the National Weather Service and sirens went off Wednesday between 5:30 and 6 p.m. as radar indicated a possible tornado. However, while there were two touchdowns in Elgin, none were reported in Naperville.
The weather service said the chance for strong storms with the possibility of heavy rainfall and gusty winds returns Friday into early Saturday.
Lightning from storms that blew through Naperville Tuesday afternoon set a garage on the city’s north side ablaze.
Naperville officials said the lightning strike fire occurred about 3:15 p.m. at a home in the 1400 block of Larsen Lane. Firefighters arrived to find flames burning through the garage roof and extending into the home’s living space above, a report said.
The homeowner, who evacuated before firefighters arrived, told department personnel the attached garage was struck by lightning.
The fire was under control within 10 minutes and caused an estimated $40,000 in damage, officials said.
No injuries were reported.
