Rampant flooding last week forced NIU’s campus to close and resulted in the cancellation of numerous campus and city events.

DeKalb’s Cornfest, NIU’s Friday Fest, academic convocation and all District 428 classes scheduled for Friday were canceled as a result of the flooding.

Despite heavy rain and street flooding on Thursday, as of Sunday at 4 p.m., DeKalb Fire Chief Lanny Russell said all streets have been reopened.

Lt. Jim Kayes of the DeKalb Police Department said Friday the most significant flooding was in the Lions Park area on Taylor Street. There was also significant flooding reported on Tilton Park Drive north of Hillcrest Drive, he said.

In DeKalb there have not been any widespread power outages, but some isolated incidents have been reported, Kayes said.

Some car damage was also reported from drivers attempting to drive through flooded areas or from cars parked in a flooded spot. Some houses have also reported sewage entering the house from flood drains and sump pumps unable to keep up with the rain.

There have not been any reported incidents of additional crime from the flooding. The biggest concerns are street flooding and people getting accidentally electrocuted, Kayes said Friday.

DeKalb Community Development Director Russ Farnum said his department had already inspected 150 structures. Farnum and his department were working on finishing damage assessment at the lower priority sites and also trying to get those they could back into their houses.

“Like triage, we have to take the care of the worst problems first,“ Farnum said.

“In these situations crime usually isn’t an issue,” Kayes said.

As of 4 p.m. Sunday, Russell said the city is in the recovery and damage assessment phase. There are about 75 people remaining in the city residential shelter and it is not known how long clean up and recovery is expected to take, he said.

Additional staff was called in to work over the weekend, including two people staffed with a boat in the event aquatic rescue was needed.

Russell said he hopes the department will be back to normal staffing and hours Monday.

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