Daywatch: Scientists join the fight against basement flooding in Chatham

Chicago Tribune

14-05-2025

Good morning, Chicago.
When Nedra Sims Fears was growing up in Chatham in the 1960s and '70s, the basement of her family home flooded at least six times.
Twice, the water rose so high that it triggered an electrical fire and her family had to move out during extensive renovations. Mementos from Fears' early years — in a close-knit neighborhood that embraced hard work, education and block parties — were lost forever.
Now Fears is fighting back, as part of a coalition of community leaders, university scientists and concerned citizens who have joined together to answer a question that has haunted this South Side neighborhood for decades: Why is it that Chatham experiences some of the worst basement flooding in the city?
Volunteers are measuring rainfall in their yards, a local nonprofit is rallying support, and scientists at universities including the University of Illinois, Chicago State and Northwestern are gathering data with soil moisture sensors, radar, weather balloons, and groundwater probes.
Read the full story from the Tribune's Nara Schoenberg.
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