Clean-up efforts started in earnest in many communities today, but the far southwest suburban town of Morris was still struggling with record-setting flooding along the Illinois River.
"There wasn't much we could do to stop Mother Nature," Morris Fire Chief Robert Coleman said today. "All that rain in Chicago and DuPage County--they dumped it all here."
At least 50 people were evacuated by boat Monday night from low-lying areas, fire officials said. The river reached 24.84 feet in Morris, breaking the previous record set in 1957.
Dan Hairald arrived at the edge of floodwaters by canoe this morning to take his 7-year-old son to school. Even though their basement was submerged in 6 feet of water, Hairald and his family decided not to evacuate. He planned to buy water and food before canoeing back home.
"There's no way in and no way out--except by canoe," he said pulling his canoe out of the water near Cemetery Road. "I came to get supplies for me and my neighbors."
--Emma Graves Fitzsimmons, Chicago Tribune
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