Storms cause crater in Calumet City, blow roof off Joliet hotel
CALUMET CITY, Ill. (WLS) -- Strong storms led to a Deep Tunnel burst in Calumet City and the collapse of a roof at a Joliet hotel.
No one was hurt in either incident, although guests were at the Best Budget Inn on Jefferson Street when the roof collapsed.
"I could hit the concrete hitting. You're in that situation, and you're never prepared for it. So I just ran, I stood in the doorway," Robert Troyer said.
"There were some people that were taking it relatively OK, and then there were some people that were pretty upset," Brian Renas said.
Most of the guests at Best Budget Inn are semi-residents. The hotel helped them all find alternative places on Sunday night.
In Calumet City, residents who live near Burnham Avenue and Heritage Drive said they heard an explosion Sunday night during the storm.
"We heard what we thought was a clap of thunder, really, really loud," Karen Matthews said.
"You heard a big boom. And then I turned around and the water was coming up and it was like an ocean. Everything in the parking lot was moving and it wasn't stopping," Sharon Krueger said.
On Sunday night, a cover blew off a Metropolitan Water Reclamation structure that's part of the Deep Tunnel system. Heavy rains quickly filled the crater left behind.
"Rocks and boulders all over. It was like a river opened up. It was all down the road," Debbie Pawlak said.
In previous years, there had been problems with geysers during heavy rains in the area. Work had been done to correct that. It isn't clear if that led to the newest problem.
"We're going to have to look at what happened, evaluate it, and find another solution," David St. Pierre, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, said. "It's a huge system. There's nothing like this, really, in the world. We are going to do everything we can to make sure it doesn't happen again."
Barricades are up around the sinkhole, and officials said the repairs could take a month or two.
