The storms that started yesterday lasted well into this morning. For some students and staff, this was a major problem in trying to get to school on time; basements flooded, streets were barely manageable to drive on, and buses were running late.

“My mom drives me to school every day. Today, it started out by her calling me out of first period, but then she said she wasn’t going to drive me because it was too dangerous. She is also a school administrator and chose to cancel schools in her district. She didn’t understand why we had school, especially for the people who walk every day,”  junior Jillian Rashid said.

Junior Taylor Hoffman stayed home as well.

“We woke up and water was pouring from my walls,” she said. “Now we have three to five inches of water in my basement. Everything’s ruined down there, and my whole family is home right now trying to fix it. Our streets are completely flooded, so we can’t get out anywhere. We’re trying to clean the basement and stop the water from pouring through, but every time it rains it gets worse.”

Other students also said they have problems with their basements.

“My basement was a water park this morning,”  senior Danny Morrison said. “There was water everywhere. The streets were flooded, too. My dad’s car definitely would have gotten stuck if he tried leaving. I even had to call in late to school.”

Some students said they managed to make it to school on time, but not without some bumps in the way.

“I woke up this morning and had to carry buckets full of water from my basement upstairs. Luckily, I managed to make it to school on time, but the roads were horrible,” senior Abigail Wolf said.

“My street is flooded. Half of my block has water up to people’s front steps; they can’t even leave their house,” senior Elizabeth Holbrook said.

According to the National Weather Service, nearly six inches of rain have fallen in the last 24 hours; a flash flood warning is still in affect for Cook County.