Warning residents were angry about the city’s slow response to reports of flooding

A flooded street in the Dunning neighborhood left residents smelling of sewage, sand-covered sidewalks and few answers after they said it took the city nearly five hours to respond to what they said was a broken water main.

It’s the worst flooding Julie Ross, 58, has experienced in at least 35 years when she saw a burst water main freeze the street while she lived on Damen Avenue.

“I can’t remember it ever being this bad,” said Ross, who has lived in a building in the 3500 block of North Oriole Avenue for 20 years.

She said she was first alerted to the breach through a video her sister texted her from outside her building as water flowed down the street around 3:45 p.m. Sunday. The water wasn’t turned off until 4:15 p.m., she says.

Cesar Gonzalez, who was alerted to the flooding by another neighbor around 11:30 a.m. while watching the Bears game, said the flooding had been going on for hours. The longtime Chicago resident said he had never seen flooding this bad, even as storms hit the area.

“As soon as I opened the door, the smell of sewage hit me right in the face,” Gonzalez said. “The whole street was covered with water. … It was our own little hurricane.”

The water began draining after the main was shut off, leaving behind sandy sediment that “ravaged” at least two lawns and covered parts of the sidewalk and road, Gonzalez said.

Ross’ property remained dry, as did her car, which was parked in a garage, but she said she wished the city would communicate better with residents about when water would be available again. She said a city employee told her that water access would be restored at midnight, even though Gonzalez had been told it would happen at 4 a.m. Monday.

“We only know because we saw the main line shut off, but there was no communication when that happened and we don’t know when it will be back on,” Ross said.

Gonzalez agreed and said the response could have been quicker. He said he even called the police just to try to block off the street, but to no avail.

“After they called the water department’s 911, 311 number, they didn’t come until four hours later,” Gonzalez said. “They were constantly transporting me back and forth. … I just called to get someone to help and the response was very slow. It was a little frustrating.”

“At least we got the Bears win, we got something good today,” Gonzalez said with a laugh.