With repeated flooding, Chicago alders call for action to prevent backflow into basements
Downpours Monday night left several streets flooded in Chicago, yet homeowners kept their fingers crossed that the rain would at least stay outside.
The rain left people nervous in particular on the South and West sides. The threat of heavy rain makes them uneasy and worried that sewage will back up in their basement — a nasty sight they are tired of experiencing.
Six aldermen agree it is time the city does something.
The alleys of homes on California Avenue near 57th Street illustrated what neighbors in the Chicago Lawn and Gage Park communities have been experiencing. Mattresses and furniture sit outside garages.
"I threw away all my furniture because I don't want mold," said Ismael Ruvalcaba.
Ruvalcaba's basement was inundated with nearly 3 feet of water that rushed into his home from the weekend rains.
"it's crazy. There's nothing I can do," Ruvalcaba said. "Doesn't matter if we got pumps or not. They don't help."
But it is safe to say Ruvalcaba and his neighbors are looking for help — considering that this is the second time their homes ended up in such a state within three weeks.
The cost keeps adding up. Ruvalcaba says he would estimate he has lost $10,000.
Rubalcava has made his official 311 complaint to the city, and the CBS News investigative data team shows he's not alone. Since Sunday night, there were nearly 4,800 complaints for water in basements, and 287 complaints for water blocking streets.
The five community areas most impacted are Chicago Lawn, Gage Park, West Lawn, Garfield Ridge, and Chatham.
"When I talked to them, they said something is wrong with the sewer, but they don't know what's going on," said Ruvalcaba.
Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) and five other Southwest Side councilmembers issued a letter to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson on the subject.
"And unfortunately, unless we figure out how to stop that water from backflowing in, that will continue to happen when we have a huge amount of rain dumped on our streets in a short amount of time," said Lopez. "Residents are scared. They're frustrated. They want answers."
The alders are demanding the city do more than stand by and watch. They are insisting the city create a government-funded backflow valve installation program to prevent such flooding from recurring in people's homes.
"The problem is none of us know," said Ald. Lopez. "We're not having a conversation with Water Reclamation, we're not having a conversation with our own water department, and we haven't been able to have a real conversation with the Mayor's office until today."
The alders say action is needed because people like Ruvalcaba can't wait for possible federal funds.
"So I need to do whatever I need to do," he said.
As homeowners in Gage Park and other Southwest Side neighborhoods were cleaning up from the storms on Tuesday morning, Mayor Johnson spoke to residents about the infrastructure issues and the need to replace them.
"Our systems are antiquated and they're old and they need to be repaired. Many of these systems have not been touched in decades and that's a citywide challenge," he said. "We do have strong partners at the federal level that have helped secure resources so that we can begin to make these necessary repairs, but we're talking about hundred-year-old systems that have now reached a point where we have to do something about it."
The mayor said the city needs more federal money to work on a permanent fix to overhaul flood control systems.