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Turns out Friday night’s storms were just the opening act.
After being buffeted five days ago by a burst of high winds and heavy rain, the area was overrun by a powerful storm front Wednesday evening, complete with reports of tornadic winds, driving rain, hail and a barrage of lightning.
Rain was so heavy, an inch within an hour in the Landmark coverage area, according to the National Weather Service’s Web site, that sewers were unable to handle the load.
Streets all over Riverside, North Riverside and Brookfield became impassable within a half hour and waters slowly receded.
The 2500 block of Hainsworth Avenue in North Riverside was completely impassable due to, in some places, knee-deep water. A large tree limb also fell in the street. One motorist who tried to drive through the water stalled and had to be pushed to dry ground – a nearby parking lot.
In the 3900 block of Forest Avenue in Brookfield, one resident attempted to stop people from driving through the high water by placing a white metal bench, complete with an orange warning flag, at the north end of the block.
A crowd of people gathered at the intersection of Washington and Prairie avenues in Brookfield to witness that area flood completely – water gushed from the manhole in the middle of the intersection.
Police Chief Steven Stelter, who was at the scene, said the intersection looked like “a swimming pool.” The same could be said for basements near that intersection and in other parts of town, according to residents.
Water made low-lying sections of streets all over Riverside impassable, including First Avenue at the railroad viaduct. Police routed southbound traffic through the center of the village and then east to Miller Road to get to Ogden Avenue – a parade of vehicles, including semi-tractor trailers.
At Riverside-Brookfield High School, he football field and track flooded, and areas of the artificial surface bubbled up, forming “islands” in the standing water.
Making matters worse for motorists, power outages zapped traffic lights all over the area – on Cermak Road, on First Avenue. Fallen trees blocked roads and snapped some power lines. Power outages were scattered all over the area, according to anecdotal reports from residents and officials.
Lightning apparently struck some power lines at the intersection of Prairie Avenue and Plainfield Road in Riverside. Jay Westley, a Plainfield Road resident, said he saw a bright flash of lightning and a simultaneous clap of thunder when his power failed. He looked outside to see high-tension lines draped to the ground. Police closed Plainfield Road from 47th Street to Forest Avenue.