Elmhurst Storm System Runs Properly: City

ELMHURST, IL — All of Elmhurst's stormwater systems performed properly overnight Sunday, but the volume of rain overwhelmed portions of the system's capacity, the city said in a news release Monday afternoon. Parts of Elmhurst received 7.9 inches of rain over the last four days, with 3.1 inches falling on Sunday, the city said.

"It is important for residents to understand that street flooding will continue to occur during significant rain events as designed by the stormwater detention operation plans," the city said in the release. "The stormwater mitigation system is designed to relieve homes of flooding by redirecting the water into the streets, which then drains into the detention basins. This can take anywhere between 30 minutes to 1 hour based on the amount of water."

Elmhurst police and public works crews worked throughout the night to monitor streets and clear debris from flooded areas, the release said. The city said the majority of reports to the city during the rainfalls included backyard and street flooding. Street flooding cleared as soon as the heavy rainfall stopped, according to the news release. All major roadways are now open.

"The city’s Public Works crews worked expeditiously to remove debris from clogged inlets and to open city roadways," the release said. "Streets are currently being swept to remove sediment and debris that may have been caused by the storm."

The city's Southwest Wet Weather Facility was in operation and sewage was being pumped to the 2 million gallon excess flow tank, the news release said. Five homes reported a sewer backup, the city said.

On the Elmhurst, IL News and Comment Facebook page, the photo of Spring Road and Eggleston Avenue on Sunday showed it all: Elmhurst was hit hard by flooding. The entire road was covered by water.

A delivery driver, who reacted to the photo, said the flooding was the worst he had seen.

"Almost every street I drove down was flooded. Though I live right at that corner of Eggleston and Spring and had never seen it like that before, it was like that all over, not just in Elmhurst," he said.

Others expressed anger on the Facebook page.

"There's going to be some explaining to do, and I don't mean just blame it on the rain," a woman wrote. "How many millions of dollars have been spent to stop this? August of 1987 was the first disaster and it was said to be a 100-year flood. The Spring Road Business District did not flood in 1987."

"The city officially gets an F- with the amount of money and construction they've done over the past few years on this. Zero changes," a man said on the page.

During heavy rainfall, the city often receives inquiries on when the Elmhurst Quarry will be open to relieve the city's standing floodwater, according to its news release. The DuPage County Stormwater Management Team operates the quarry and is responsible for opening it, the release said. It takes overflow water from Salt Creek, but does "very little" in preventing flooding on Elmhurst streets, the release said.