Fox River’s Record High Waters Continue to Cause Flooding

Tony Angarola has been at the house his family owns for days, stacking sandbags and monitoring the Fox River. He has five sump pumps going arranged in a tiered system to keep the water out.

It seemed like Tuesday morning was a turning point. He woke up happy thinking the worse was over, he said.

Then the rain started up again by mid-day.

“If this rain hadn’t come, I defiantly would’ve made it,” he said.

Rain fell again Tuesday as the Fox River rose to 12.6 feet, causing continued flooding. The National Weather Service is predicting light snow Wednesday and Thursday. No rain is predicted for the rest of the week. The river is expected to crest Wednesday, but it will take a while for the river level to drop.

It is the highest level recorded, said Bob Mitchard, director of public works.

The Fox River’s record flooding began last week and has affected 20 homeowners with most of the flooding on the west side of the river. Three businesses were also affected, he said.

Algonquin has not issued an evacuation notice but there are a couple of vacant homes under water, Mitchard said.

Tuesday, representatives with the Illinois Emergency Management Agency (IEMA) were in Algonquin to inventory the damage, Mitchard said. Homeowners affected by the flood can file for assistance.  The village and IEMA are assisting those homeowners with the paperwork.

Public Works crews also assisted homeowners by filling 16,000 sandbags. Volunteers, including the Civic Air Patrol, helped filled the sandbags, he said. Crews worked 24 hours a day from Thursday to Sunday to manage the emergency, he said.

Angarola said the village has been in regular contact, providing updates and other help.

The Algonquin homeowner sat in the open-air garage as he kept an eye on the river while grilling some sausages for his “elves,” friends and neighbors who came out to help battle floodwaters.

Mark Korczyk, a neighbor, has lived on Willow Street for 14 years. He had sump pumps in his home too. His garage flooded and he had about a foot of water in his crawlspace.

Korczyk has never seen the river as high as it is now. He remembers the 2007 flood but this was worse, he said. Neighbors, however, were better prepared this time around, he said.

Mitchard found people living along the river are “amazingly tolerant of the conditions,” he said. Homeowners have an understanding that flooding is sometimes the price to pay for living along the river, he said.