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Five inches of rain fall in Chicago, forcing the evacuation of houses and saving drivers from drowned automobiles.

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Drivers in Chicago on Sunday had to be rescued from their cars after flash floods deluged the Windy City in what were the worst to hit the metropolis in two years.

Hours earlier, the National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning for part of northeastern Illinois including Chicago’s northern metro area.

The heavy rains came down fast and flooded viaducts, stranded cars, and sent water surging into people’s basements.

Photos and videos shared to social media showed several cars partially submerged beneath underpasses and plumes of water shooting up from sidewalks after sewer pipes burst because of the deluge which saw up to five inches fall in a matter of hours.

Rain fell fast in the Chicago area on Sunday overwhelming the sewers leading pipes to burst

Rain fell fast in the Chicago area on Sunday overwhelming the sewers leading pipes to burst

Roads in the Windy City were completely deluged by the downpour which saw water fill the streets

Roads in the Windy City were completely deluged by the downpour which saw water fill the streets

Chicago’s famous Lake Shore Drive was shut down briefly together with a section of the Eisenhower Expressway which remained shut for hours,

The Chicago Bears proceeded with a planned football game with the San Francisco 49ers at noon local time, posting videos of the team warming up in pounding rain on a sodden field.

Even after the heaviest rain had ended by around 11am, the NWS warned that roads would remain flooded until the water had time to recede.

‘It was just pouring down. That’s when I was like, oh this is not good,’ John Carruthers said to NBC5. ‘Thankfully I got it done before the end of the Bears game,’ he joked.

Vehicles are partially submerged on a waterlogged street during flash floods, in Chicago, Illinois on Sunday

Vehicles are partially submerged on a waterlogged street during flash floods, in Chicago, Illinois on Sunday

‘The sewer really did a great job recovering quick. I went down to wet-vac some more and it had receded, which still leaves me with a lot of gross stuff to deal with. But it really worked.’

The city urged residents to avoid driving through standing water on streets, viaducts and low-lying areas.

The North Side of Chicago was hit worst with some areas recording up to 5 inches of rain.

In one video water could be seen shooting out of a pipe. In another part of the city, parked cars were seen sitting in a pool of water.

A number of drivers completely misjudged how deep the water was as they attempted to drive under viaducts


A number of drivers completely misjudged how deep the water was as they attempted to drive under viaducts

The rain was so heavy that it uprooted a huge tree, part of which landed on a house


The rain was so heavy that it uprooted a huge tree, part of which landed on a house

Engineers would out on the streets as they attempted to unblock road drains

Engineers would out on the streets as they attempted to unblock road drains

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or the IPCC, predicts more extreme flooding for the Midwest.

Extreme rainfall events – ‘very local, very intense, and hard to predict’ – have increased in recent years, according to Chicago’s water management office.

Such rains can dump 2 inches per hour on a neighborhood, overwhelming local sewers, filling mains and pushing water into residents’ basements via private drains.

As a result, the city has begun installing water blockers on catch basins that prevent sewers from flooding but can worsen street floods.

Prior to Sunday’s flooding, the most recent significant event of a similar magnitude was in May 2020 when the first floor of the Willis Tower was flooded and the Chicago River burst its banks.

Drains were unable to cope sending water shooting into the air as pipes burst


Drains were unable to cope sending water shooting into the air as pipes burst

One driver could barely see through their windshield as the rain came down hard

Chicago Bears linebacker Sterling Weatherford looked to be swimming on the field during the NFL football game on Sunday

Chicago Bears linebacker Sterling Weatherford looked to be swimming on the field during the NFL football game on Sunday

Water pools on the field in the fourth quarter in a Chicago Bears game against the San Francisco 49ers at Soldier Field


Water pools on the field in the fourth quarter in a Chicago Bears game against the San Francisco 49ers at Soldier Field.

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