A flooded street in the Dunning neighborhood left residents with a sewer smell, sand-covered sidewalks and few answers after they say it took the city nearly five hours to respond to what they believe was a water main break.
It’s the worst flooding that Julie Ross, 58, said she had seen in at least 35 years, when she saw a water main break freeze the street when she lived on Damen Avenue.
“I don’t remember it ever being this bad,” said Ross, who has lived in a building in the 3500 block of North Oriole Avenue for 20 years.
She said she was first alerted to the break by a video that her sister texted her from outside their building of water flowing down the street about 3:45 p.m., Sunday. The water wasn’t shut off until 4:15 p.m., she says.
Cesar Gonzalez, who was alerted about the flooding by another neighbor as he was watching the Bears game about 11:30 a.m., said the flooding had been going on for hours. The lifelong Chicago resident said he had never seen a flood this bad, even when storms hit the area.
“As soon as I opened the door, the smell of sewer just punched me in the face,” Gonzalez said. “The whole street was covered in water. … It was our own little hurricane.”
The water started to drain after the main was shut off, leaving behind sandy sediment that “trashed” at least two lawns and covered stretches of the sidewalk and street, Gonzalez said.
Ross’ property remained dry, along with her car which was parked in a garage, but she said she wished the city was better at communicating with residents about when the water would be back on. She said she was told by a city employee that water access would be returned at midnight, though Gonzalez was told it would return at 4 a.m. Monday.
“We only know because we saw the main shut off, but there was no communication when that happened, and we don’t know when that will be back on,” Ross said.
Gonzalez agreed and said the response could have been faster. He said he had even called police just to try to get the street blocked off, to no avail.
“After calling 911, 311, the water department, they only came four hours later,” Gonzalez said. “They kept transferring me back and forth. … I was calling just to get somebody out here to help, and it was a very slow response. It was a little frustrating.”
“At least we got the Bears win, we got something good today,” Gonzalez said, laughing.