SAUGANASH — Emergency workers and excavating crews lined the streets of Sauganash Thursday morning, after a water main break briefly turned the 5900 block of Caldwell Avenue into a river coursing through the residential neighborhood.
The flood was caused by a 36-inch "high pressure feeder main" bursting in the 5900 block of North Kilpatrick Avenue, according to Gary Litherland, a spokesman for the city's Department of Water management.
Cars could be seen sitting half submerged on the street and there were reports some homes had water in basements.
Water could be seen bubbling up out of sewers in the street. Some residents reported a lack of power.
Crews are working to shut off a broken water main at Caldwell/Forest Glen in #Sauganash. Leak was first reported around 3 a.m. pic.twitter.com/H9qwID7yzS
— Alex Nitkin (@AlexNitkin) January 26, 2017
"We don't know the nature of the failure until we excavate," Litherland told reporters on the scene. Neighbors first reported flooding around 3 a.m., he said.
Workers will have to gradually "throttle down the pressure" to stop the leak, which is going to take "a couple more hours," Litherland said around 8:45 a.m. Neighbors reported that the street had been completely flooded earlier in the morning, but workers were able to drain most of the water by around 7:30 a.m.
Chicago Water Dept: #Sauganash flooding caused by defective valve basin. In the process of shutdown to begin repairs pic.twitter.com/o9KNahVINx
— WGN-TV Traffic (@WGNtraffic) January 26, 2017
Anna Cerny, who lives in the 5900 block of North Knox Avenue, said her husband woke her at 5:30 a.m. Thursday morning to tell her he wouldn't be able to drive to the airport for a flight he was scheduled to take.
"The entire street was like a lake," Cerny said. "We looked around, like, 'Did it even rain last night? Where'd this all come from?'"
Litherland did say that it "would be really helpful" if residents cleared leaves from the drains. "A lot of our catch basins and gutter basins are clogged with leaves, particularly in this neighborhood," he said.
.@NBCSky5 over massive water main break flooding streets on Chicago’s Northwest Side https://t.co/4P16qYW0Ot pic.twitter.com/ppe6IxTNMj
— NBC Chicago (@nbcchicago) January 26, 2017
