Chicago flood facts for kids
The Chicago flood was a big event that happened on April 13, 1992. It was caused when a wall of an old tunnel under the Chicago River broke. This break let a huge amount of water, about 250 million gallons, pour into the basements and underground areas of downtown Chicago, known as the Chicago Loop.
What Caused the Chicago Flood?
The flood started during a repair project on the Kinzie Street Bridge. This bridge crosses the Chicago River. Workers needed to replace old support poles, called pilings, for the bridge. The city first asked them to remove the old pilings. But the company, Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company, found that the old pilings were too close to a small building nearby. Removing them might damage this building.
So, the City of Chicago allowed the company to install new pilings a little further away. What no one knew was that an old, unused tunnel was hidden deep under the river. This tunnel was built a long time ago, in the early 1900s. It was used to move things like coal and other goods.
One of the new pilings was pushed into the riverbed right next to this old tunnel's wall. The piling didn't actually punch a hole through the wall. Instead, it pushed the clay soil around it. This pushed-away clay eventually caused a weak spot in the tunnel wall. Slowly, water and mud started to leak into the tunnel. After a few weeks, the clay became very watery. This made the leak much bigger and faster. The situation became serious because the special doors that could block water in the old tunnels had been removed since the tunnels were no longer used.
How Did the Flood Affect Chicago?
The water quickly filled the basements of many office buildings and shops in the downtown area. It also flooded an underground shopping area. The city quickly told everyone to leave the downtown and financial districts. They were worried that the water could cause electrical wires to short out.
Because of this, electricity and natural gas were turned off in many parts of the flooded area. Important trading places, like the Chicago Board of Trade Building and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, had to stop working in the middle of the morning. This had an effect on markets all over the world.
At its worst, some buildings had about 40 feet of water in their lowest levels. But if you were walking on the street, you wouldn't see any water. The entire flood was happening underground.
What Happened After the Flood?
It took three days for the city to clean up enough for businesses to start opening again. The flood cost the city a lot of money, about $1.95 billion. Some buildings stayed closed for several weeks.
Parking was not allowed downtown during the cleanup. Also, some subway train routes were temporarily closed or changed.
