CHICAGO (WLS) — An early-morning water main break sent floodwaters into about a dozen homes in Chicago’s Heart of Chicago neighborhood Tuesday, forcing some residents to evacuate and causing significant damage.
The break happened in the 2500-block of South Claremont Avenue.
Residents along South Claremont Street awoke to rapidly rising water in their basements after an 8-inch water main ruptured. Firefighters responding to reports of a water leak around 3 a.m. discovered the break and went from house to house, helping people leave the affected homes.
Several homeowners said they had only minutes to collect essential belongings before evacuating.
“Everything is damaged. Everything. There’s water up to the couch. There’s nothing. Everything’s floating on it, or everything’s ruined. All everything that was on the floor, the shoes, everything. It’s all the way to our knees, so it’s soaked in there,” homeowner Tracy Cadenas said.
Cadenas said a neighbor alerted her to the flooding early Tuesday, shortly before firefighters arrived and instructed her to get out.
“We grabbed whatever, just the little things we could, just some clothes and whatever we could find. And I don’t think any of it can be saved, but we’ll see,” Cadenas said.
The water was eventually shut off, but flooding persisted. In the daylight and rain, crews from the city’s Department of Water Management worked to repair the damaged main.
The Department of Water Management said the 8-inch water main was installed in 1978.
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A few houses away, resident Ismael Ortiz said his son woke him as water poured into their recently remodeled basement. Ortiz said his son, daughter-in-law and 2-year-old grandchild moved upstairs while the floodwaters rushed through the home.
“This was unbelievable,” Ortiz said.
“It looked like a lake,” he said. “I took a picture from the window and it was water high like this. I have three steps going into the yard and the water was going all the way up.”
Ortiz said two sump pumps were unable to handle the volume of water entering the basement.
“I don’t know who’s gonna pay for all the damage,” Ortiz said.
“Who’s gonna be responsible for this? The city, the homeowners’ insurance, we don’t know. We’ll see, because now everything’s ruined,” Cadenas said.
As cleanup efforts continued, some families stayed with relatives upstairs while flooded lower levels remained underwater or were being cleared of debris.
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