Drivers in some south and southwest suburbs had to do some rerouting Thursday as rain caused flooding and street closures in some areas.
More than 2 inches of rain had fallen overnight Wednesday into early Thursday, with additional rain, heavy at times, that continued to fall for much of the day Thursday.
Orland Park reported on its Facebook page Thursday that high standing water had covered portions of some state-maintained roads, including Southwest Highway between 131st and 135th streets and Will-Cook Road between 159th and 167th streets. A section of Southwest Highway was closed earlier this month due to flooding after heavy rains.
In Matteson, a section of Governors Highway between 216th and 219th streets was closed due to viaduct flooding, but the village hadn’t had any other street closures, according to Brian Mitchell, village administrator.
A viaduct at Dixie Highway between Park and Harwood avenues in Homewood had to be closed briefly Thursday morning due to overnight rains, and the village had some other “isolated” ponding and flooding, according to Mayor Rich Hofeld.
Officials in Mokena and Oak Forest said they did not have to close any streets due to flooding and hadn’t seen any other major issues due to the rain.
Two Metropolitan Water Reclamation District reservoirs adjacent to the Thornton Quarry had, as of mid-afternoon Thursday, taken 2.3 billion gallons of water, according to Allison Fore, a district spokeswoman. The reservoirs have a combined capacity of more than 12 billion gallons.
Twitter @mnolan_j
