Thousands of Illinois homes swamped by flood waters as rivers keep rising

(Reuters) – Flooding north of Chicago could worsen on Saturday as rivers keep rising after a deluge earlier this week that damaged thousands of homes and sent water cascading into streets and basements, officials said.

Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner on Friday issued a disaster proclamation for Lake, McHenry and Kane counties and pledged the support of the state government to people whose properties were damaged or destroyed.

Thousands of homes were affected by flooding after storms dumped more than 7 inches (18 cm) of rain in the area on Tuesday and Wednesday, said Patti Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency.

The full extent of damage was still unknown, but houses had their basements inundated and some structures may have suffered worse, Thompson said. No injuries or deaths have been reported.

“Until the water goes down, it’s hard to get a firm number,” Thompson said by phone. “We still have a few more days when we’re going to see levels rising in some of these areas.”

Source: Thousands of Illinois homes swamped by flood waters as rivers keep rising