Flooding in Chicago basements is a common and systemic problem

Some residents say they experience flooding throughout the spring and summer.

By Lynnea Domienik
A Department of Water Management crew places a new catch basin cover — created by Neenah Foundry — on a rebuilt sewer frame at East 93rd Street and South Jeffery Boulevard on the South Side, Wednesday morning, April 27, 2022.
A Department of Water Management crew places a new catch basin cover — created by Neenah Foundry — on a rebuilt sewer frame at East 93rd Street and South Jeffery Boulevard on the South Side, Wednesday morning, April 27, 2022. Ashlee Rezin / Chicago Sun-Times
A Department of Water Management crew places a new catch basin cover — created by Neenah Foundry — on a rebuilt sewer frame at East 93rd Street and South Jeffery Boulevard on the South Side, Wednesday morning, April 27, 2022.
A Department of Water Management crew places a new catch basin cover — created by Neenah Foundry — on a rebuilt sewer frame at East 93rd Street and South Jeffery Boulevard on the South Side, Wednesday morning, April 27, 2022. Ashlee Rezin / Chicago Sun-Times

Flooding in Chicago basements is a common and systemic problem

Some residents say they experience flooding throughout the spring and summer.

By Lynnea Domienik
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Advocates say flooding disproportionately impacts low-income people of color in Chicago. A neighborhood think tank found that about 75% of all flood damage claims paid between 2007 and 2016 were in predominantly Black and brown communities. These floods can cause mold which can lead to respiratory problems.

Reset explores how what seems like an individual problem on private property is actually a systemic issue.

GUESTS: Karen Weigert, director of Loyola University Chicago’s Baumhart Center for Social Enterprise and Responsibility

Leslé Honoré, communications director for the Center for Neighborhood Technology

Bob Dean, CEO, Center for Neighborhood Technology