Flood Warning Systems

Flooding can occur with little warning, but there are ways to stay informed. The National Weather Service issues flood warnings, watches and advisories as needed. The Village will issue a CodeRED alert and post the information on the Village communication channels described below under Warning Systems.

Flash Flood Warning -Take Action! Issued when a flash flood is imminent or occurring.  If you are in a flood prone area, immediately move to high ground.

Flood Warning - Take Action!  Issued when hazardous weather is imminent or already happening. If you are in a flood prone area, immediately move to high ground. 

Flood Watch - Be Prepared!  Issued when conditions are favorable for flooding. It does not mean flooding will occur, but it is possible. Monitor USGS gages, CodeRED alerts and weather reports. Consider moving vehicles to higher ground and critical belongings to higher floors, especially if more rain is predicted overnight. 

Flood Advisory - Be Aware! Issued when flooding is not expected to be bad enough to issue a warning. Local rainfall can quickly escalate this to a watch or warning. Be aware of local conditions. Consider moving vehicles to higher ground as evening approaches if heavy rain is predicted overnight. 
  

Warning Systems

In addition to the Village’s CodeRED alerts, the following communication channels are used for updates during an emergency:

Please note if an emergency occurs after hours, only the Village's Facebook and Twitter pages will be updated to provided the most timely information.

When severe weather is a possibility, the Village encourages everyone to follow local news/weather channels or visit the National Weather Service website, weather.gov to monitor the situation. These entities have far more resources to monitor weather than the Village could ever have and will be your best source of information as the situation progresses.  

Monitor River Water Levels Using Stream Gages

Track Water Levels - You can track real time water levels on the U.S. Geological Survey stream gages on the East Branch of the DuPage River and St. Joseph Creek.
 
Set Your Own Water Alerts - You can subscribe to receive water alerts as  an email or text message when water levels start to rise on each waterway to alert you to possible flooding. Go to any stream gage page and click on Water Alert Link under the graphs. Chose either an email or text message format and set a water level when you want to be notified. To help you choose a water level, normal water levels and high water levels are listed below. 

Take Action!  If a flood warning has been issued for the area and water levels are rising and additional storms are predicted, consider moving your vehicles to high ground and your valuables to higher floors in your home.

Storm Debris in Disaster Areas

To help people manage debris generated from the tornadoes or severe storms, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency created a Storm Debris in Disaster Areas Fact Sheet (PDF) which explains how to safely dispose of storm waste.