Chicago Flooding Worse Than Hurricane Areas In Past Decade
Chicago Flooding Worse Than Hurricane Areas In Past Decade
Check out a recent Chicago Tribune story with the headline:
The city’s sprawling network of sewers, most of which were laid out during the last century, quickly fills to capacity during intense rainfall like the April 2013 storm and more recently when a month’s worth of rain fell in less than five days starting on April 27. Even a typical summer shower can trigger sewage backups in some parts of the city.
The story delves into the politics of funding and executing fixes to Chicago’s aged sewer systems. It goes on to say:
The region remains vulnerable despite $3.8 billion spent on one of the most expensive public works projects in U.S. history: the Deep Tunnel, a labyrinth of cavernous underground pipes connected to massive reservoirs intended to “bottle up rainstorms” and keep Chicago and Cook County suburbs dry.
Chronic flooding in the Chicago area likely costs billions more than government data indicates, the new report’s authors concluded, noting that damages aren’t assessed unless the president approves a disaster declaration. Researchers are only beginning to understand the cumulative effects of neighborhoods flooding and sewage backing up into basements time and time again.
Here at Rocket Plumbing, we have been upping our game with new Drain Cleaning technologies, and sending out the warnings to our customers who have basements to ensure their Ejector/Sump Pumps are in working order.
It looks like the Tribune story is saying that for the foreseeable future, we Chicago residents will need to be aware of the challenges with our current sewer system. We can vouch for the story, as since Rocket Plumbing started in 2012, the emergency plumber sump pump and flooded basement calls have been a near constant percentage of our on site assessments, both residential and commercial.
If your home or business seems to be vulnerable to flooding when we have any of our rainstorms, it could be the sewer system it is attached to is not up to handling the volume. Give us a call, there might be something Rocket Plumbing can do.
Read Adam E.‘s review of Rocket Plumbing on Yelp
