The weather has been pretty crazy over the last couple of weeks, but the storms on Friday were really intense. In case you missed this story, the Chicago River flooded the River City condo complex at Polk and Wells:
At least 700 tenants at the River City condos were evacuated as a precaution after the basement parking garage flooded, said the alderman for the 2nd Ward.River water seeped into the garage about 3 a.m.,said Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd).
The flooding caused the generator that runs electricity throughout the building to shut down, said Valerie Gervais, who owns a condo in the building.Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said that in terms of flooding, the River City complex is the worst situation being with in the city."We don't have any other building that have been flooded to this degree," Langford said.
Another reader sent us some pictures and a quick write up:
I'm sure you'll get lots of updates on this since it is big news, but here's my take. River City was evacuated Saturday the 24th due to flooding in the ground levels (basement and parking garage - I was told up to 12 feet at one point). The water took out the electrical systems in the basement, so the building is without power or water and for "safety reasons" the city evacuated the building.
We've been told it could be as many as five days before the power is back on and we can return. Anyone without a place to go was bussed to a shelter. We were told all the hotel rooms in the city had been booked on Saturday so that was not an option (I have no idea who determined that). By 4:00pm on Saturday the fire department was going unit by unit to evacuate the people and any pets they found. By 2:00am we were told it was finished. I've attached a couple pictures I took, use them as you will.
(Hat Tip: TE & JJ!)
