The Great 47th Street Flood of 2011

How ironic that, mere days after Mayor Rahm Emanuel's announcement of the doubling of non-metered Chicagoans' water and sewer bills by 2015 and the day after he announced that suburbs that receive Chicago-supplied Lake Michigan water would see similar rate hikes, a century-old water main would rupture in Chicago under 47th Street near Loomis.

The water flowed for three blocks in either direction, then surged down side streets, alleys, and sidewalks in an area bounded by Racine, Ashland, 47th and 49th Streets, invading basements, garages, loading docks and first-floor doorways as it went. It finally stopped at the railroad viaduct that abuts 49th Street, three blocks to the south.

Ironic, too, that this flood happened in Back-of-the-Yards, a poor and working-poor black and Hispanic Chicago neighborhood whose residents can least afford either the flood-damage cleanup, which may or may not be covered by their homeowner's or renter's insurance, or Emanuel's proposed 90% rate increases.

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[MartySchrader]

Oh, well. Not too much coverage of this on local media, though, right? It's Back-o'-the-Yards, so it never gets talked about anyway. Those folks always, always, ALWAYS get screwed.

[artistmac]

@MartySchrader They certainly do. They really got nailed in the last property tax assessment.

[artistmac]

@hollytoo He was born in Chicago and raised in Wilmette, so he's a citizen of Illinois. But by law, Chicago mayoral candidates are supposed to have lived in Chicago for a year prior to election; Emanuel had spent the previous 2 years in Washington as Obama's Chief of Staff. He was cleared to run by the Board of Elections and Cook Cty. Circuit Court., knocked off the ballot by the Court of Appeals and finally cleared (again) by the IL Supreme Court. Name recognition and money did the rest.