Between midnight on July 23 and 10 a.m. on July 24 Evanston received 3.65 inches of rain. At 2:35 a.m. the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District opened the sluice gates (locks) in Wilmette to allow the channel to discharge into the lake. City crews have been in the field checking for flooding and have not reported any flooded streets; they are continuing to check known flooding areas.
Nearly 1,700 Evanston ComEd customers lost power from what is believed to be storm related problems. The area affected is serviced by the Green Bay Road and Simpson Street circuit.
ComEd is working to reroute services to the affected areas, and as of the morning of July 24, about 300 customers remained without electricity, with the largest concentration of 118 customers being near Central Park Avenue and Grant Street.
Since the forecast shows an 80 percent change of thunderstorms until 10 p.m. on July 24, residents with basement flooding due to sewage backup only should contact the City’s Water and Sewer Division after-hours emergency number at 847-475-6880 and an employee will investigate. Since restrictors are placed in drainage structures to mitigate basement backups, storm water staying on the street for one-hour after a rain event is anticipated. Street flooding that does not drain away after one hour will be investigated.