As river levels fall in the Chicago area, residents were given a chance to clean up the mess left behind by the flooding. Glenita Roberts picked up a kit for her mom's basement to start the second round of clean up.
"I'm off today, so that's why I was able to come by and grab some stuff and finish," said Roberts.
Close to 300 kits containing supplies needed for flood cleanup were made available by both the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.
"Mops, brooms, mop buckets, there is bleach inside, there's rubber gloves, and then in addition to the kits, we also are going to have metal shovels, rakes, we're gonna have work gloves - heavy duty work gloves, plastic tarps," said Adam Runkle, mass care manager at the American Red Cross. "We'll also have dust masks to make sure that people, as they are cleaning their homes, that they are able to do it in a safe way."
Over the weekend Mayor Rahm Emanuel pledged to support a pipeline plan that will prevent future flooding in the area. Until that plan gets underway, residents are continuing their cleanup efforts.
"I had to run out and buy a bunch of stuff when I found out what happened, but I still didn't have enough," said George Klein, whose basement flooded. "With the kits, that's a big help."
The Red Cross and Salvation Army will be giving out the cleanup kits over the coming days. The Red Cross will be back in Albany Park at 8 a.m. Wednesday and will stay there until 8 p.m. giving out kits.
For more information on flood cleanup, visit the American Red Cross website at www.redcross.org and www.salvationarmyusa.org
