On the recordJuly 28, 2010
Illinois, over the weekend, had torrential rains hit our State. They took a terrible toll on already strained water and flood control systems across Illinois. In a matter of hours, Chicago and northwestern Illinois were pounded by nearly record amounts of rainfall. An estimated 60 billion gallons of rain fell on Chicago Friday night. I was driving in. I was there. My wife was struggling to come in from Washington, and it took her all night to make it to Chicago. It led to flash flooding, a lot of evacuation, and lot of property damage. The rain actually started Thursday night. By Friday morning, we had 6 inches of rain and flood conditions. Another intense rain began again on Friday and didn't let up until Saturday morning. In Joe Daviess County, at the northwest corner of our State, more than 12 inches fell during the course of the weekend. Roads are closed in Joe Daviess, bridges are out, and the county--along with several other counties in the region--have declared a state of disaster as they focus on cleanup and restoring basic services.





