Steve Scott's Blog

A 36 inch water main burst along the northbound Kennedy Expressway at Grand Avenue early this morning...sending a torrent of water onto the expressway, and flooding the outbound lanes with more than four feet of water. This wasn't a leak...it was a full-scale blow-out!



This poor taxi cab ended up submerged up to its roof. I watched, as the cab slowly floated along. The driver got out safely...although he was soaking wet. He was last seen walkingly forlornly down Ohio Street. For some reason, he left the driver's window open...and popped the trunk. Even after the water went down a bit, the IDOT trucks plowing through the water would send waves lapping through the open window.




IDOT had to push more than two dozen cars out of the floodwaters. The water rose in a hurry...many drivers found themselves in window-high water before they knew what hit them. The good news is that no one was hurt in this mess.





Among those who were rescued from the floodwaters...this pooch, name unknown. He seemed to come through the whole thing none the worse for wear.


Once city crews got the main plugged, the water slowly receded...and the expressway was re-opened to traffic shortly before 5:30am. But, crews will be out there all day finishing the cleanup and repairing the broken main.