Flooding Causes School, Road Closures

Local roads and schools are closing in the area as the National Weather Service continues to predict record flood levels along the Des Plaines River.

Oak Park-River Forest High School is still in session today, but several other school districts canceled all classes and activities. That includes Forest Park District 91, Oak Park District 97 and Proviso District 209.

The school districts cited the level of water on the roads, and D97's transportation company said it would not be able to provide service. 

Meanwhile, the Des Plaines River continues to rise. As of 6 a.m. Thursday it was at 15.14 feet, according to the Village of River Forest. At 16.5 feet water will begin flooding into Chicago Avenue, and at 18 feet it would flood into the West Lake area. 

Chicago Avenue is closed at Thatcher as of this morning because of flooding, and River Forest Public Works is sandbagging an area along River Oaks Drive to protect residential areas from flooding. 

River Forest officials recommend moving valuable property to an elevated area, and possibly evacuating your home if it's in the West Lake area.

Read more about flood prevention from the Village of Oak Park. 

Fenwick High School also closed, as did Dominican University. Dominican University’s Main and Priory campuses, including the Goedert Early Childhood Education Center, and all satellite sites have been closed as of 11 a.m. this morning.

Dominican will make a determination about Friday morning classes at 6:30 p.m. about the status of campus and will post information on our Campus News website.