Storms, flooding hit Chicago area

Before Sunday's rains moved out, they created quite a mess across the Chicago area.

Thousands were turned away at the Taste of Chicago Saturday due to the first weather-related cancellation of an entire day in the festival's history.

On what would have been the busiest day of the Taste, the grounds in Grant Park were empty. Tens of thousands of Taste fans had to change their plans. Vendors lost a day of business, and some people questioned the decision, which was not made lightly.

"Revenue is not the top concern, it's the safety of residents - this decision was about safety, we'll deal with revenue issues later and we won't know the full extent of the expense until after the festival is over," said Michelle Boone, special events commissioner.

The Taste is back on Sunday, with a 1,000-pound Eli's cheesecake that will be unveiled at 12:30 p.m. near Buckingham Fountain in honor of the festival's birthday. The cake was supposed to be unveiled yesterday but was saved.

The heavy rain caused a lot of flooding issues across our area. Standing water forced drivers to slow down on the inbound Eisenhower Expressway at Western Avenue. In south suburban Country Club Hills, a viaduct at I-57 and Cicero became impassable when it flooded from all the rain.

All the weekend rain also made a mess of a fire house in unincorporated Cook County. Firefighters at the garden home fire station tried to keep the rising water at bay with a wall of sandbags, but several inches of rainwater wound up inside the station.

In south suburban Burbank, a man and his young son were driving when their car got stuck in high water on Narraganset Avenue.

A nearby resident, Joseph Kois, saw their plight and came out to help. Kois carried the boy to dry land in his arms, then going back to get the father, ferrying him through the water on his back.

Kois said there were about two feet of water in the street and several cars got stranded in it.

Many people in Burbank tell us flooding has actually been an ongoing problem there.

They say the sewers always back up in heavy rain, and each time they're left dealing with flooded basements and expensive remodels. It's so bad that many Burbank residents can no longer get flood insurance.