Five days after heavy storms soaked Chicagoland and flooded much of the metro area, residents are trying to take stock of the damage as more rain began to fall Tuesday afternoon.
As one of the largest floods in Illinois history, an area water damage company ranked the Thursday deluge as the fifth all-time worst, according to the Wall Street Journal. In the number-one spot was the April 1992 flood that cost the city an estimated $2 billion.
In the city, Chicagoans are cleaning up with help from the American Red Cross, according to DNAinfo Chicago, particularly in the hard-hit Albany Park neighborhood.
Gas to many residents has been shut off since last week when the Chicago River flooded, prompting Mayor Rahm Emanuel to announce a new tunnel project that will contain the rising river; Albany Park and parts of the Northwest Side have been rocked by major floods twice in the past five years.
Nearby suburban Des Plaines was hammered by floodwaters, with National Weather Service readings showing The Des Plaines River at 9.98 feet Sunday night — nearly twice its flood stage, according to the Sun-Times. Most of the roads at the river remain impassable, with officials saying water has only receded "about an inch."
Far northwest suburban Fox Lake is also among the hardest-hit, with several residents being forced to boat around their neighborhoods (video embedded) as they take to the grim task of discarding their ruined possessions.
Neighbors in far west suburban Plainfield were doing the same, with resident Kelvin West telling the Tribune, "People are throwing out their whole lives in these dumpsters." His neighbors, Alvin and Kathy Siller, have 8 feet of water fill their basement.
"We're moving," Kathy Siller told the paper. "We have to. We can't live like this."
In Forest View, residents were describing their town as looking "like a war zone," NBC Chicago reports. (Watch video below.)
According to Fox Chicago, flood warnings continue in four area river plains: Des Plaines River in Lake and Cook counties; Fox River in Kane, McHenry, Kendall and LaSalle counties; Kankakee River in Porter, Lake and Newton counties in Indiana; and Iroquois River in Iroquois County.
NBC Chicago reports a half-inch to an inch of rain could pour down on the area Tuesday. An evening temperature drop also means possible snow showers come Wednesday.
View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.
CORRECTION: The above photo caption previously read incorrectly that the image was taken in the Fox River. The error has been updated.
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