Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Rockford flooded

Heavy rain, flooding turn civilians into heroes

By Zack Creglow
and Corina Curry

ROCKFORD — Residents became heroes Monday after powerful flood waters submerged parts of Rockford, trapping people in their homes and setting one drastic rescue after another.

At the intersection of 14th Street and 10th Avenue, chilly flood water rose to about 5 feet. A civilian-operated fishing boat hauled in dozens of people, including several boatloads of young children.

When a number of the children reached dry land, their parents sobbed uncontrollably as they embraced.

Southeast Rockford in the areas around Charles and 20th streets sustained the most damage. Its root cause, forecasters say, was 4 to 5 inches of rain that swelled streets into rivers and neighborhoods, parks and businesses into lakes.
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