Heavy rain swells rivers, sparks flooding across Lake County

Heavy rain, storms causing severe flooding in Lake County

The torrential rains over the past few days also causing problems in Chicago's northern suburbs.       We chatted earlier today with a representative of the Lake County Emergency Management Agency who said they're working with the Red Cross and Salvation Army in case people need to be evacuated.

LAKE COUNTY, Ill. - Torrential rains over the past few days are causing problems in Chicago's northern suburbs.

Two major rivers cut through Lake County, the Fox and the Des Plaines, and both are causing flooding in several communities, including Gurnee, Lincolnshire and Antioch.

Rebecca Kumar of the Lake County Management Emergency Management Agency said they're working with the Red Cross and salvation army in case people need to be evacuated.

"We have shelters staged in areas that could be affected and impacted," Kumar said. "So everything from a reception center to a shelter and all the resources needed in between. We've partnered for several days with the Red Cross to get those assets here in Lake County so they're not waiting two or three hours. So they are staged here and ready to go."

In Gurnee, police have closed a stretch of Grand Avenue, including the busy intersection of Grand and Milwaukee, after the Des Plaines River broke from its banks and spilled into the roadway.

The road may soon  be closed as far east as Route 41. And even though the rain stopped overnight, the Des Plaines river continues to rise.

"We do expect cresting to occur in the Gurnee area around 7 a.m. tomorrow and potentially Lincolnshire maybe 10 to 12 hours later," Kumar said. "Again, we're not anticipating any more rainfall like we had last night, but that could change. Mother Nature doesn't always listen to us. So we are right at that point. We're looking at a moderate flood stage right now."

Kumar also encourages Lake County residents to report any flooding to their local authorities, and to not try to drive through roads covered with water.

The county is also making thousands of sandbags available to residents.

"They contact their local municipality and jurisdiction and then pick them up from their public works. So that is a request process through us," Kumar said. "We've distributed over 20,000, and we do have plenty more for residents in Lake County."

As of Saturday evening, there have been no evacuations due to flooding in Lake County, and while they're anticipating that will remain the case, those shelters are on standby in case the rivers rise even higher than anticipated.