CALUMET CITY, Ill. (September 26, 2023) – Officials in Calumet City are calling for help after flash flooding in the south suburbs on Sunday, September 17, left neighborhoods under water and drives stranded in floodwater.
Calumet City was among the towns hit the hardest. An estimated 7-9 inches of rain fell in the town and surrounding areas, according to the National Weather Service.
Officials have begun cleaning up the town and helping residents recover from this disaster.
“[This disaster] was truly devasting for some people,” said DeAndre Tillman, alderman of the 3rd ward in Calumet City. “We are doing everything we can to provide assistant to those [effected].”
“Nothing like this has ever happened in Calumet City before,” he continued. “This is a unique event, and we have all hands-on deck.”
Calumet City Mayor Thaddeus Jones issued a state of emergency and held an emergency Council meeting Wednesday, September 20. Officials agreed to release 1 million dollars of COVID relief funds to help residents restore their homes and remove sewer back up caused by the flooding.
The town is currently offering residents up to $9,000 in assistance for damage not covered by their insurance company, according to Tillman.
The Calumet City residential flood form is up on the town’s website for residents to apply for disaster assistance.
Mayor Jones plans to apply for additional assistance through Governor Pritzker to rehabilitate the town’s aging sewer system.
The same area experienced heavy flooding a few months back.
A disaster recovery center opened at the Calumet City Public Library on Thursday, September 14 to help residents with recovery from flooding in June and July. Many residents have been told that it is too early to receive assistance after visiting the center.
Officials are working to prevent this disaster from happening again.
“We are waiting to get the full engineering report to know what is needed”, said Alderman Tillman.
South Holland homes flooded amid storm
The village of South Holland temporally closed several streets that were flooded because of the heavy rainfall on Sunday, as around six inches of rain fell in a span of two hours.
A small number of homeowners experienced flooding in their basements due to sump pump failure.
In a statement, Mayor South Holland Don De Graff said, “Thankfully, there was no overbank flooding, since the deep tunnel project diverted nearly 1 billion gallons of rainwater. The deep tunnel worked as planned.”
Mayor De Graff encouraged residents affected by flooding to apply for the town’s Flood Mitigation Program. The program was created in 1994 to provide technical and financial assistance to residents of South Holland.
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- Lansing and Calumet City support $15.6 million levee restoration project to protect against future flooding (September 17, 2021)
