Highways shut down, vehicles stranded amid dangerous flash floods

ALL? >>> MICHELLE: IT DEPENDS ON WHERE YOU ARE. WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO NAVIGATE AROUND THE CHAOS. WE ARE GETTING ONTO THE EISENHOWER AT AUSTIN AND CICERO. IF YOU LOOK AT WHAT IS AHEAD OF ME, IT IS ABSOLUTELY SMOOTH SAILING. BUT THAT IS COMPLETELY OPPOSITE TO WHAT WE HAVE BEEN SEEING ELSEWHERE. WE ARE TALKING WITH THE WORST CONDITIONS AT THE EISENHOWER IN BOTH DIRECTIONS, WHERE THE EASTBOUND AND WESTBOUND LANES ARE CURRENTLY BLOCKS. VEHICLES ARE NOT ABLE TO GO ANYWHERE. WE HAVE SEEN CARS TURNING AROUND AND GOING IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION, JUST TRYING TO GET AWAY ANY WAY THAT THEY CAN. BUT THERE IS -- IT IS REALLY NOT MUCH BETTER WHEN YOU GET OFF THE EXPRESSWAY WITH DRIVERS BECOMING ENSNARED IN CITY STREETS AS WELL. FOR HOURS TODAY, STATE POLICE DIVERTED TRAFFIC AT THE EISENHOWER IN FOREST PARK AS EASTBOUND LANES REMAIN SHUT. SEVERE FLOODING FORCED THE CLOSURE. BUT SOME DRIVERS BECAME ENSNARED ELSEWHERE TRYING TO NAVIGATE THROUGH THE STREETS. >> MY GPS IS GOING CRAZY. I DON'T KNOW WHERE I AM. MICHELLE: AT ONE POINT THIS MORNING, NO LESS THAN SEVEN VEHICLES AND THEIR PASSENGERS WERE TRAPPED AS FLOODWATERS INUNDATED TO 90 AT 6TH AVENUE AND CICERO. A YOUNG GIRL IS SEEN HERE BEING IN EVACUATED -- BEING EVACUATED FROM THE TRUCK SHE WAS IN. OTHERS GET OUT ON THEIR OWN, WALKING THROUGH WATER. IT WAS A SCENE WE SAW OVER AND OVER IN VIADUCT'S IN THE CITY'S EAST SIDE. SHE HAD TO BE TOWED AFTER HER SUV FAILED TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE RAPIDLY RISING WATER. >> I WENT AND THEN MY CAR STARTED FLOATING. AND I SAID, OH SNAP. MY FIRST REACTION IS TO GET FROM THE CAR, OPENED THE DOOR. WATER STARTED FLOATING T MY FEET. MICHELLE: SHE ADMITS SHE SHOULDN'T HAVE TRIED TO DRIVE THROUGH. >> I THOUGHT I COULD MAKE IT. I SAW A LITTLE CAR OVER THERE. AT THE MOMENT, I THOUGHT IT WAS A CAR, THEN I GOT STUCK IN THE WATER AND SAW IT WAS A GMC. IF I HAD KNOWN IT WAS A GMC, I WOULDN'T HAVE. MICHELLE: TOW TRUCK DRIVERS HAVE BOOMING BUSINESS, GETTING THOSE TRAPPED VEHICLES OUT IS NO EASY TASK. MANY HAVE TO WAIT PATIENTLY FOR WATER LEVELS TO BEGIN TO RESEED. -- TTO RECEDE. >> NOW WE ARE JUST WAITING, WAITING PATIENTLY. I TRY TO HELP OUT AS MANY PEOPLE AS I CAN. SOME PEOPLE CAN'T AFFORD TOWS. MICHELLE: AS YOU CAN SEE, IT HAS BEEN A REAL DIFFICULT SITUATION TO CONTEND WITH ON THE ROADS TODAY, EVEN AS THE RAIN IS DIMINISHING. AT LEAST THIS PORTION OF THE EISENHOWER EXPRESSWAY THINGS ARE BETTER, EVEN THOUGH IT IS STILL QUITE WATERLOGGED. I WOULD STRONGLY ADVISE FOLKS TO STAY OFF THE ROAD FOR THE ROMAIN DURER OF THE AFTERNOON AND THE EVENING BECAUSE IT CERTAINLY IS GOING TO TAKE SOME TIME, IF NOT SEVERAL HOURS, FOR THIS SIT UATION

Channel: ABC 7 Chicago

Views: 47,198

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Id: FK6XGWcYpe0

Length: 3min 35sec (215 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 02 2023