Storms heading south after overnight deluge

The flood watch for Chicago was expected to be canceled thisafternoon, as heavy thunderstorms moved slowly south toward Kankakee.

Pockets of rain are still expected for the Chicago area, which wasbattered overnight with 4.44 inches of rain reported at O'HareInternational Airport, the National Weather Service said. But theflood watch, initially in effect until Friday night, was expected tobe canceled as of 4 p.m.

In its wake, the storm forced small closures of area expresswaysto close, flooding on major arterial roads in the suburbs and havocon the CTA. Some city streets and viaducts also flooded, and streetlights were out in areas.

Workers from the city's fire, police and sewer departments werecalled to the Millennium Park construction site this morning whereabout 25 feet of water had collected around a massive crane threelevels below the street, threatening the crane's stability. No damageto the site was reported, and the water was drained out of the areathrough massive hoses hooked into the sewer system.

The operating portion of the Millennium Park parking garage wasclosed for several hours this morning due to some surface-level waterseepage, Chicago Police Sgt. Dan Sopcak said. He added that there wasno reported damage to the garage, which reopened around noon.

Many officials seemed to be breathing a bit easier by mid-afternoon.

"Right now, it's fine," said Matt Smith, spokesman for the city'sDepartment of Streets and Sanitation. "Until the weather is clear andperfect, we're going to remain vigilant."

The rain that fell overnight flooded roads from Galena to Chicagoand parts of two Chicago area expressways--Interstates 290 and 94--were closed. Flooding at the Winnetka Road underpass forced theclosure of part of the Edens for about 41/2 hours.

Trains on Chicago's subway system also had to be rerouted becauseof the storms. The CTA restored service on the Red Line subway underthe Loop about 9 a.m. after shutting it down for most of the morningrush hour, a CTA spokeswoman said. Two to 3 inches of water hadseeped onto the tracks, resulting in trains on the Red Line beingrerouted to the elevated track.

The Blue Line subway closed at about 11:45 a.m. due to flooding atLake and Wacker, spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney said, but reopened bymidafternoon.

Contributing: AP