Weeks after July 25-29 storms damaged homes in Southwest Side wards, the 14th Ward is still tallying flood losses from another deluge Aug. 16-17.
“I think we’re close to 2,000 houses affected in our ward,” Ald. Jeylu Gutierrez (14th) said. “Right now, we continue to report [damage to homes] as people keep coming to the office. We had a line of people waiting to be helped.”
Gutierrez urged residents to continue to report damage to homes in Southwest Side neighborhoods to help the area qualify for recovery assistance.
Flooded homeowners can call 311 to be added to the final damage count. Officials recommend keeping all receipts for cleanup or repair work.
The Red Cross and Salvation Army are providing cleaning kits at local ward offices, as long as supplies last.
Gutierrez said her staff has worked nonstop since the storm but does not yet have final damage totals.
“We are going to be canvassing on Saturday, Aug. 23, to continue reporting damage and tell people about resources available to them,” she said.
During an Aug. 20 press conference, Gutierrez and other local leaders demanded long-term investment in overdue infrastructure upgrades across the Southwest Side.
U.S. Rep. Chuy Garcia (4th) called the flooding a disaster and said more federal funding is needed, citing Republican cuts to FEMA flood aid, according to an Aug. 20 press release from his office.
Garfield Ridge Q&A session
At an Aug. 19 Garfield Ridge Neighborhood Watch meeting, residents asked city and water officials about why flood defenses failed during July 25-29 and Aug. 16-17 storms.
About 100 people filled Ward Hall at St. Faustina Church with questions about river locks, sewer priorities, and why north side neighborhoods seemed spared.
Local and state elected leaders attended the event to answer questions. Ald. Silvana Tabares secured visits by Chicago Water Department officials.
“First, great job by the Garfield Ridge Neighborhood Watch for hosting this very important discussion,” said Ald. Marty Quinn (13th).
Quinn, whose home also flooded, opened discussion by introducing resident questions about if water drainage was prioritized at Midway Airport over neighborhoods and the impact locks have on basement flooding.
Brendan Schrieber, deputy commissioner and chief sewers engineer at the Chicago Department of Water Management, said the city’s combined sewer system has been overwhelmed by more frequent, intense storms.
He explained that since 2012, the city installed “restrictors” in catch basins to slow how much water enters sewers. Streets then hold excess water until the system can catch up keeping water out of basements.
But one resident pushed back.
“The water department said restrictors are supposed to control water entering the sewer system. So, as long as we see water in the street, it’s not coming into our basement but that’s not true,” said John Doherty, a 13th Ward resident.
After overflowing the parkway, sidewalks and his lawn, water poured into his basement, Doherty said.
“The restrictors seem to be designed to protect the street sewer system and force water into our houses,” he added. “Why are they coming out here to redo the restrictors? They need to be redesigned rather than redone.”
Locks were another concern for residents.
Schrieber and Fred Wu, senior engineer at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, said river locks don’t affect flooding.
The men explained that normally, the Chicago River and downstream locks remain open unless river water levels become higher than Lake Michigan’s level.
Locks are only closed to keep Lake Michigan from flowing backward into rivers, they said.
Closing the locks at the lake prevents Lake Michigan backflow into rivers that could cause excessive flooding; locks don’t address excessive rain.
The role of the area’s river and canal locks are used as a last resort to control flooding and are controlled by the Chicago Area Water System that is not part of the city’s system, they said.
Schrieber also said Midway Airport does not get drainage priority.
Some residents called for more transparency.
“There is a diagram that shows where everybody ties in, direction of flow and the sizes of the pipes,” said resident Dina Carli. “Why isn’t that diagram for everyone to see? Maybe we can see where sewer lines need to be expanded so the sewers can take in more water.”
Others described personal losses.
Mary Beth Caudillo, a senior who lives alone in the 13th Ward, said she took in “black sludge” during both the July 25-29 and Aug. 16-17 floods.
“The first time it was up to the second basement step,” she said. “The second time was worse. I sat on the landing stairs at 1 a.m. crying. I didn’t know where it was coming from.”
Her washer, dryer, hot water tank and furnace were damaged. “I probably got 2 1/2 to 3 feet of sewer backup,” Caudillo said. “Someone’s got to explain to me what’s going on because there’s a serious problem.”
Reservoir capacity was another concern.
“They say we have three reservoirs but they’re not the same capacity,” said resident Steve Zakic. “McCook is the second largest but they need more reservoirs. That’s why we get the brunt of [the storms].”
MWRD Commissioner Teresa Flynn acknowledged confusion about aspects of the water system and said there is lots of information about the MRWD systems on its website.
“On our website, you can see in just about real time the capacity of our reservoirs,” Flynn said. “We had a torrential, intense rainfall and today (Aug. 19) we’re sitting at about 96-97 percent full in the McCook reservoir. We need to treat that water before we release it into our waterways.”
Flynn, who also experienced flooding, was deeply saddened after listening to residents.
“Unfortunately, we can’t predict rainfall as we’ve seen,” she said. “Meteorologists called for one-half an inch of rain and we received three and one-half inches. Climate change is real.”
After the meeting, local city and state elected leaders in attendance answered resident questions.
Garfield Ridge Neighborhood Watch President Al Cacciottolo thought the meeting went well.
“I expected more angry residents but residents were very respectful to the water department officials,” he said.
Cacciottolo, whose basement flooded, drained in an instant prompting him to think the locks being opened were responsible.
“They answered that question which I think a lot of people were concerned with,” he said. “People really didn’t understand, and I didn’t understand, the locks don’t have anything to do with it [flooding]. The biggest question of the night was why can’t our sewer system handle [the rain] but the water officials pointed out we did have two 100-year storms in three weeks and the water’s got to go somewhere.”
Cacciottolo said questions about the future went unanswered but he believes the water department and their engineers will figure it out.
“Overall the experience was a win-win for everyone,” he said.
The frustration of residents is completely understandable