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.
Anonymous • Apr 18, 2013 at 5:59 PM
Absolutely a horrible day. I can’t believe Niles West administrators think that not canceling school was a good idea. People’s car broke down, kids who walked to school were soaked, and many had enough problems with their basement/house flooding. NW is asking for danger when they don’t inform faculty and students for not canceling school. NW also wants to be like New Trier and so whatever they do, we copy them. I hope they change with how things go when severe weather comes in. Hope all of you guys stayed safe and warm.
Merrill • Apr 18, 2013 at 5:10 PM
Bad call on D219’s part. I think everyone on my block stayed home today.
Bill • Apr 18, 2013 at 2:26 PM
If d219 cannot guarantee the safety of all roughly 4000 students that go to either NW or NN then they should not have had school. If other schools in our conference do not have school, then its likely that we probably shouldn’t t either. No one that I talked to said their teachers were there 1st period and many classmates said they had no teachers at all. With the edens and eisenhower not open, how can our teachers get to school? d219 just makes their faculty and students enter unsafe driving conditions and hassle to get to school even when they could just at the least make a late start. When I asked my teachers if they thought if we should have school, they agreed that we should not of. The administrators aren’t doing their jobs when it comes to school closings. Its one day, plus all my classes were almost half empty today. Talk about a nightmare. At least release a statement or something on the website to acknowledge the driving conditions.
John R. Voyles • Apr 18, 2013 at 1:13 PM
My coat was soaked from the rain and I was cold all day 🙁 I take the bus and had no transportation issues, but it definitely didn’t make for a comfortable trip.
Student • Apr 18, 2013 at 9:04 AM
My car stalled in the water getting to school today, thanks niles west. We have the rest of our lives to go to school, why is it so hard to cancel one school day? Its dangerous driving today.