A boy looks out the passenger window of a truck on Sheridan Road at a fully submerged Scranton Avenue after heavy overnight rain Saturday, July 23, 2022, in Lake Bluff. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Two days after a torrential downpour pummeled the area, Lake Forest Mayor George Pandaleon offered a blunt assessment of the storm.
“It was nuts,” Pandaleon said. “It is extraordinary that we had that much rain in such a short period of time.”
Portions of Lake Forest received at least five inches of rain in the overnight hours of Friday night and Saturday morning leading to flooded viaducts and some power outages.
Water reaches the tops of road signs on Scranton Avenue near Sheridan Road after heavy overnight rain Saturday, July 23, 2022, in Lake Bluff. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Up north in Lake Bluff, the situation was even more intense. According to the National Weather Service, nearly 6.4 inches of rain fell on the west side of the village between 6 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday.
“That does not happen too often,” weather service meteorologist Rafal Ogorek said. “That is the most amount of rain we have seen this year in a 24 hour period in the Chicago metropolitan area.”
Lake Bluff Village Engineer Jeff Hansen told village trustees at their Monday board meeting the area was a bull’s-eye for the downpour.
“The storm clearly parked over Lake Bluff and kept raining on us,” Hansen said. “That was unfortunate.”
Water reaches the tops of road signs on Scranton Avenue near Sheridan Road after heavy overnight rain Saturday, July 23, 2022, in Lake Bluff. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
Several thoroughfares in both communities were closed, including the flooding-prone viaduct at Deerpath Road and Route 41 where approximately five inches of rain came down in about four overnight hours, according to Lake Forest officials.
The ongoing problems at that viaduct led to the state of Illinois installing a new pumping station with the goal of alleviating the issues.
But the station is not set to go online until October. So when the massive amount of water came down Friday night, the viaduct once again became vulnerable.
“The old pump failed again, and the new pump won’t be commissioned until October,” Pandaleon said. “We got some benefit from the additional capacity that has been put into the pipes, but that meant it didn’t flood as fast.”
Superintendent of Public Works Dan Martin said the viaduct was closed for several hours on Saturday.
The flooding hit other main parts of the city, including parts of Green Bay Road and Western Avenue.
Two boys test their fishing luck in floodwater on a fully submerged West Rockland Avenue after heavy overnight rain Saturday, July 23, 2022, in Lake Bluff. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune) (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)
That was a source of frustration for Rick Lesser, a longtime Lake Bluff who earlier this year moved south into a Lake Forest condominium featuring underground parking for his beloved 2019 Audi A7, which he valued at approximately $65,000.
“I thought that would solve some of the maintenance issues,” Lesser said.
However, the storm flooded the garage, thus possibly destroying Lesser’s car, depending on an insurance company determination.
“I see it there with water up past the center of the wheel,” Lesser said. “The situation is depressing and aggravating at the same time.”
Martin indicated the Western Avenue situation, close to where Lesser lives, is another case of poor timing as stormsewer work including an expansion of pipes in the area started earlier this year, but is not set to be completed and operational until later this year.
Up in Lake Bluff, two major roadways were closed for a time, including the Scranton Avenue viaduct and a section of Route 41 in what was the worst storm to the hit the village in at least five years, according to Hansen, the village’s engineer.
Like Lake Forest, Lake Bluff has been dealing with flooding for years.
To ease excess water issues, Hansen said the village needs roughly $17 million to get a pipe expanded at the Scranton Avenue viaduct to send more water into Lake Michigan.
While initial design has started for that projects, funding for construction has been elusive so far as the village has sought assistance from lawmakers in Springfield and Washington.
Overall, roughly $60 million in projects have been identified for stormwater management issues throughout the village, officials said.
“We have been looking aggressively for funding at both internal sources and external,” Hansen said.
In the meantime, he said village crews are cleaning out sewer lines of debris to make sure existing infrastructure is working as well as possible.
Other problems tied into the storm included both directions of Route 41 at the intersection with Route 176 being closed for more than 24 hours on Saturday and Sunday according to Lake County sheriff’s office spokesman Christopher Covelli.
Also, nearly 1,400 customers in Lake Forest lost power for some time, ComEd spokesman John Schoen said. He added power to most homes was restored by 3:30 a.m. Sunday.