Oakton College campus closed, classes moved online due to flooding

Classes at the Oakton College campus in northwest suburban Des Plaines have been forced to move online through Thursday, due to flooding on campus.

The parking lots and soccer field have been left underwater because of flooding from the nearby Des Plaines River.

Administrators said there's no water in campus buildings, but both streets heading to campus are flooded.

The timing was a concern because it's so close to graduation.

"The timing is not ideal from an instructional perspective, and we will definitely need to make some accommodations in terms of making sure students are able to get all of their lab courses in on time and still complete these courses," said Oakton College vice president of administrative affairs Michele Roberts. "We will certainly do that in a way that's very flexible and accommodating to the students."

The college's Skokie campus and Evanston Health Careers Education Center were operating normally.

Classes at the Des Plaines campus will be held online at least through Thursday. All events and activities at the Des Plaines campus also have been canceled.

Water levels on the Des Plaines campus are receding, but the college needs permission from the Illinois Department of Transportation to reopen. It's unclear if that will happen in time for classes to resume on campus on Friday.