The 2007 Midwest flooding was a major flooding event that occurred in the Midwestern United States in the third week of August 2007. While Hurricane Dean was affecting the Yucatán Peninsula and the Gulf of Mexico, and Tropical Storm Erin was affecting Oklahoma and Texas, a persistent storm system hung over the Midwest for several days, causing repeated flash flooding in the US states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Cool Canadian air clashed with large quantities of warm moist air from the Gulf, producing torrential rains along a stationary front. 5 deaths across the central United States were attributed to the resulting flooding. Seven Minnesota counties, eight Ohio counties, fourteen counties in Wisconsin, and seven counties in Illinois were declared Federal Disaster Areas.
Meteorological synopsis On Saturday, August 18, a warm front pushed northward into Iowa and Illinois, where it became stationary. Warm, moist air pushing over the frontal boundary fueled showers and thunderstorms that moved in a west-to-east fashion, training over the same areas for hours at a time. Some parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa saw moderate to heavy rain for nearly a full day before the activity finally cleared out. Additional thunderstorms formed over these areas on Sunday, August 19, exacerbating the flooding problems. Tropical Storm Erin had pushed into the coast of Texas on August 15, and by August 18 had stalled over Oklahoma. Though the remnants of Erin did not directly impact the flooding in these areas, moisture from Erin streamed northward, enhancing the thunderstorm activity for two to three days.Title
The stationary front and associated energy then extended eastward through Illinois, Indiana and Ohio on August 19 and 20. Similarly, the front was the focus for thunderstorm development, and the precipitation continued moving over the same areas, leading to extended periods of heavy rainfall. Approximately 1,000,000 homes lost electricity due to the storms.
Runoff from the heavy rain also caused river flooding to the south of the affected areas. The Rock River near Joslin, Illinois peaked at 17.11 feet, above flood stage. Moderate flooding was also reported on the Mississippi River from the Quad Cities to St. Louis, Missouri.
Summary of Casualties and DamageStateCounties affectedFatalitiesEstimated DamageIllinois72$22.8 millionIndiana10$5 millionIowa1$8 millionMinnesota77$179 millionOhio61$241 millionWisconsin53$93 million
Illinois
The city of Rockford, Illinois was deluged in the weeks preceding the major flooding during the third week of August. On August 7, Rockford was hit by five to seven inches (127–178 mm) of rain. Many streets, including main thoroughfares, were flooded. There was also fear that the Alpine Dam might break.Kelokhe, Smita. "," 13 WREX-TV (NBC), August 8, 2007. Retrieved on August 25, 2007Downpours flood northern Illinois, Chicago Tribune, August 7, 2007. Retrieved on August 8, 2007 The following day, Governor Rod Blagojevich declared both Rockford and Winnebago County a state disaster area. With this declaration, he dispatched both the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to assist the city. Debris removal, law enforcement, damage assessment, and other physical assistance were offered by the governor.
Two weeks later on August 23, violent storms rolled through most of the Chicago metropolitan area. Tornado warnings were issued during the first round of storms, which produced wind gusts as high as 80 miles per hour (130 km/h); the highest being reported in Manhattan. A small tornado was reported in Bolingbrook in a DuPage County Forest Preserve. The storms shut down airports (including O'Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport), uprooted trees and left over 600,000 residents in northern Illinois without power, some for several days.NBC 5 News The storms also caused flooding on streets and major expressways such as the Bishop Ford Freeway. Rainfall totals in Boone and LaSalle Counties topped 1987 records. Governor Rod Blagojevich declared McHenry, Lake, Cook (including Chicago), DuPage, and Kane counties to be disaster areas after the storm. Flooding across northern Illinois was widespread in the aftermath of the storms. Along the Rock River in Byron, the river reached moderate flood stage on August 24; moderate stage is above 14 feet (4 m)."Rock River at Byron," (PDF) (Does not render in Firefox), Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, National Weather Service. Retrieved August 25, 2007. Officials in Ogle County recommended that people in low-lying areas along the Rock River, and along Killbuck Creek near Lindenwood, evacuate to higher ground.Osborne, Melinda. "Rain soaked and ready for more," Sauk Valley Newspapers, August 25, 2007. Downstream, in Lee County at Dixon, the river had not reached flood stage as off August 25, though it continued to rise."Rock River at Dixon," Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, National Weather Service. Retrieved August 25, 2007. Though not affected by flooding as it was on August 7, the city of Rockford received 1.23 inches (31 mm) of rain, setting an all-time record for Rockford's wettest month in recorded climate data history, with a total of 13.82 inches (351 mm) of rain."0, 2007 is wettest month ever at Rockford," (Press release), National Weather Service. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
Other rivers and streams in the Rock River valley experienced moderate to major flooding as well. The Kishwaukee River at Perryville crested at 17.57 feet (5.36 m), more than five feet above flood stage. The same river also rose above flood stage in Belvidere.Driscoll, Sean F. "South of Rockford, rivers reach flood stage," Rockford Register Star, August 24, 2007. After 4.85 inches (123 mm) of rain fell on August 23 and 24 in DeKalb County, at DeKalb, the South Branch Kishwaukee River rose to its highest level since 1983 and its second highest level in recorded history. Numerous roads and bridges were closed, and the cities of DeKalb and Sycamore declared local emergencies, though DeKalb County was not included in Blagojevich's initial disaster declaration.Schott, Kate. "DeKalb County begins cleaning up ," The Daily Chronicle (DeKalb, Illinois), August 25, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2007. DeKalb County received state disaster area designation from Blagojevich on August 26."Gov. Declares DeKalb County Disaster Area; Red Cross Opens New Shelter, WBBM 780, August 26, 2007, Chicago. Retrieved September 18, 2007. In DeKalb and Sycamore, about 600 residents were displaced from their homes, and the DeKalb campus of Northern Illinois University was closed because of the flood."Northern Illinois braces for more rain, flooding ," Associated Press, via NBC News, August 25, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
The Fox River at Dayton crested after it rose to more than 17 feet (5 m), over five feet above the river's flood stage.Tabular data," (Fox River at Dayton), Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service, National Weather Service. Retrieved August 25, 2007. In Plano, Illinois the Fox rose up around the historic Farnsworth House, a modern architecture masterpiece designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Preservationists used a boat to save the home and its furnishings, which previously had been devastated by high water in 1996. With the boat, preservationists were able to enter the house and move vulnerable furnishings to higher locations within the home. Water rose to within a foot of the Farnsworth House's raised platform, covering the terrace in front of the home, but the river crested before any damage occurred.Kamin, Blair. "This time, Farnsworth House dodges flood," Chicago Tribune, August 30, 2007. Retrieved October 4, 2007. At Starved Rock State Park, parking lots were closed due to the level of the Illinois River, which stood at 26.5 feet on August 25, 6.5 feet (2 m) above its flood stage.Szuda, Stephanie. "Fox River exceeds flood stage by five feet ," The Times (Ottawa, Illinois), August 25, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2007.
Governor Blagojevich estimated total flood damages could cost nine Illinois counties and the state more than $22.8 million, and the state requested federal assistance.News-Sun Staff. "Disaster declaration sought for Lake County ," Lake County News-Sun (Lake County, Illinois), September 15, 2007. Retrieved October 4, 2007. On September 25, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that federal disaster aid was available for the state of Illinois to assist with recovery from the August storms.CBS 2 Chicago. "," CBS2Chicago.com. Retrieved September 25, 2007. The disaster aid was made available when President George W. Bush declared DeKalb, Grundy, Kane, LaSalle, Lake, and Will Counties, in northern Illinois, "major disaster" areas."President Declares Major Disaster for Illinois ," (Press release), September 25, 2007, Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved October 4, 2007. The federal funding made individual assistance available to flood victims in Lake, Will and Grundy Counties, and individual and public assistance available to those in DeKalb, Kane and LaSalle Counties.Illinois map ," (PDF), Illinois Severe Storms and Flooding – Declared Disaster: September 25, 2007, Federal Emergency Management Agency. Retrieved October 4, 2007.
Indiana In Dyer, Indiana, southeast of Chicago, authorities evacuated 70 patients from St. Margaret Mercy Hospital after a waters from a nearby creek started seeping into the hospital. Also in northwest Indiana, a section of Interstate 80/94 (Borman Expressway) was closed on August 24 due to flooding on the roadway.Bunkley, Nick. "Difficult cleanup lies ahead for soaked Midwest," The New York Times, August 25, 2007. Retrieved August 25, 2007. It was reopened on August 27.
Iowa The Des Moines River near Fort Dodge crested at 4 feet (1.2 m) above flood stage, necessitating the evacuation of three subdivisions. In Ottumwa, storm sewers backed up into the city's water treatment plant, shutting four pumps down and leaving the entire town without adequate drinking water. This was caused by rainfall of over 12 inches (304.8 mm) that fell in southeast Iowa during the night of August 23–24. August 24 damage estimates in nearby Boone County, Iowa reached $150,000 in road damage and an additional $1 million damage to a scenic railroad.Cauchon, Dennis and Gomez, Alan. "Soggy Midwest in 'cleanup mode'," USA Today, August 24, 2007. Retrieved October 9, 2007.
Minnesota
A large swath of heavy rain fell across most of southern Minnesota during Saturday, August 18, and Sunday, August 19, with the highest totals in the far southeast counties of the state. Twenty-four-hour rainfall totals of 15.10 inches (384 mm) were recorded in Hokah, which easily broke the old state record of 10.84 inches (275 mm). An unofficial twenty-four-hour total of over 17 inches (432 mm) was recorded near Caledonia. During the entire weekend rainfall event, parts or all of 28 counties in Minnesota received at least 4 inches (102 mm) of rain. The highest total for the entire event was 18.17 inches (462 mm) near La Crescent.