Chicagoland continues to recover Friday from the massive deluge that dumped historic amounts of rain -- up to 5 inches in just more than a day -- on the Windy City area Wednesday night into Thursday, creating flood conditions that forced road closures and isolated evacuations.
Thursday afternoon, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn declared 38 of the state's counties disaster areas, meaning that state resources will now be made available to local municipalities working to recover from flood-related damages, NBC Chicago reports.
Among the Illinois communities hardest hit is Marseilles, where as many as 1,500 residents have been evacuated due to a possible levee break on the Illinois River nearby, according to the Associated Press. Lisle was also hit hard by the storm and was described as "like a war zone" by one resident forced to evacuate his home.
(Scroll down for videos and photos of the flooding.)
Residents along the Fox and Des Plaines rivers have also been scrambling to avoid massive damage and officials say that close to 1,000 homes could be impacted by the rising water levels. In suburban Des Plaines, multiple neighborhoods are almost completely flooded and, as CBS Chicago puts it, "the main streets look like rivers."
In the city, residents of the Albany Park neighborhood have also been hit hard after the overflowing of the Chicago River's north branch. According to ABC Chicago, several homes were surrounded by water and many residents needed to be rescued by boats. The last time the Chicago River overflowed there was in 2008.
Emergency officials in Chicago said they fielded 1,200 calls about flooded basements and 600 about flooded streets -- plus one about a massive sinkhole, or pothole, that swallowed three cars and hospitalized one person.
The city also reversed the flow of the Chicago River into Lake Michigan in an attempt to reduce flooding as storm water tunnels and reservoirs were either full or rapidly approaching capacity on Thursday.
Most Chicago-area expressways were back in action on Friday, though the Bishop Ford remained closed between the Interstate 57 interchange and Sibley Boulevard in Calumet City, according to DNAinfo Chicago. (Read updates on road conditions in the area.)
According to the Chicago Tribune, more roads are closed in Wheaton, Oak Brook and Carol Stream and the paper ran down other area roads that remain impacted.
Light rain is anticipated later Thursday, but nothing like the downpour previously seen -- though flood warnings remain in effect in the area.
