Heavy Rain — Kendall, Illinois

2025-08-17 · near Boulder Hill, Kendall, Illinois

Event narrative

Long Beach Elementary in Boulder Hill experienced water damage following prolonged heavy rainfall. Water entered the building via an existing leak in an old cast iron drain pipe. Most impacts were to one classroom and a portion of the school was closed while repairs were made. Drywall and insulation had to be replaced and the damaged drain pipes were replaced with new PVC pipes. Repairs totaled about $30,000.

Wider weather episode

A series of thunderstorms brought torrential rainfall and widespread flooding to much of the Chicago metro area, namely the south and west suburbs and up into the city of Chicago. Several Oswego District 308 schools received water and storm damage. Flood damages were estimated at around $288 million across the metro area, most of which came from the city of Chicago which alone accounted for roughly $230 million in damages with roughly 40,000 individual structures flooded around the city. The remainder of Cook County accounted for roughly $57 million in flood damages with more than 10,000 additional structures flooded. Several instances of wind damage were also reported, mostly damage to trees.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (41.7113, -88.3283)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1297344. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.