Chicago – The rain didn’t fail the South Side on July 25, 2025 — the system did. Again.
South side of Chicago flooding. Midway Airport are: I’ve lived in this area 90% of my life and this is as bad as it gets. Not a super flood prone area so this is very impressive. pic.twitter.com/PGFmM8xNqo
Despite billions poured into the Deep Tunnel Project, entire neighborhoods flooded within hours. Viaducts turned into lakes. Basements were swallowed. Families in places like Englewood, Ashburn, and Summit waded through water wondering what exactly the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD) is doing with all that power and all that money.
Cicero Ave by Midway Airport Flooded the312watch. (July 25, 2025). Publicly posted video of Englewood, Ashburn, and Chicago Lawn flooding.https://www.instagram.com/reel/DMjXXyIJB_u/
And let’s not pretend this was some once-in-a-century fluke. Flash flooding of this scale already happened in July 2023. That event caused over $500 million in damage. It was part of a cluster of three historic rainfall events within a single year — and now it’s happened again.
The Deep Tunnel, officially the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan (TARP), was supposed to prevent this very scenario. Yet residents on the Southwest Side and suburbs like Summit were hit with near-instant flooding, and many say it was worse than anything they’d ever seen.
Footage shows it clearly: underpasses near 75th and Western completely submerged. Cars abandoned or floated away. Water slamming into homes minutes after the skies opened up.
Summit Illinois Flooding July 25, 2025 https://x.com/AdamLucioWXMedia Attribution Notice Photos and video stills included in this report were publicly posted on Twitter (X) by Adam Lucio (@AdamLucioWX), Storm Chaser. These materials are used for nonprofit news reporting, commentary, and public interest under the Fair Use doctrine (17 U.S. Code § 107).
In Summit, streets were rivers.
Basements gone.
Livelihoods gone.
Again.
Chicago storm chaser Adam Lucio was on the scene, posting multiple real-time videos of the carnage:
“The basement flooding is going to be very bad.”
“Summit… I’ve never seen water reach homes here before.”
“This is as bad as it gets.”
“South side of Chicago flooding. Midway Airport area: I’ve lived in this area 90% of my life and this is as bad as it gets. Not a super flood prone area so this is very impressive.” https://x.com/AdamLucioWX
These weren’t just isolated complaints.
Flash flooding engulfed neighborhoods that aren’t historically prone to flood disasters.
Something’s clearly broken.
A flash flood warning was issued that afternoon as I-55 turned into a washout zone.
Drivers were forced to abandon their cars or inch through waterlogged lanes while others watched from bridges.
Chicago Flooding July 25 2025 Media Attribution Notice Photos and video stills included in this report were publicly posted on Twitter (X) by Adam Lucio (@AdamLucioWX), Storm Chaser. These materials are used for nonprofit news reporting, commentary, and public interest under the Fair Use doctrine (17 U.S. Code § 107)
The Deep Tunnel: Engineered Excuses
Chicago’s Deep Tunnel was launched in the 1970s as a revolutionary fix for the city’s long-running sewer and flooding nightmares.
Designed to divert stormwater and sewage into massive underground tunnels and reservoirs, it was a marvel on paper: 109 miles of tunnel, reservoirs holding billions of gallons. But as storms grow stronger, that system is collapsing under pressure.
And when it fails, the silence from the MWRD boardroom is deafening.
Identity Over Infrastructure
The current board of commissioners at MWRD reads more like a diversity symposium than a flood control authority.
It boasts firsts: the first Black woman president, the first openly trans commissioner, the first Latina from the suburbs. These are historical milestones, yes — but what are the engineering qualifications of this board?
What oversight have they provided? What decisions have they made to adapt Deep Tunnel to a decade of climate change and intensifying rainfall?
Meeting agendas and minutes from 2024 reveal extensive time spent on public image, community outreach, and environmental equity statements — but little substantive discussion about Deep Tunnel capacity thresholds, infrastructure performance audits, or post-flood failure reviews.
Where is the engineering leadership?
Where are the after-action reports for the July 2023 flood that paralyzed the city?
Where is the accountability for yesterday’s repeat disaster?
The System Failed. Again.
July 25, 2025 wasn’t just a storm. It was a rerun. A predictable failure.
The Deep Tunnel has limits. It was built for a different era. But instead of upgrading it, adapting it, or even admitting those limits publicly, MWRD hides behind PR and identity politics. And while they do, South Side families lose everything.
This breakdown in performance has gone beyond anecdotal — it reflects systemic negligence. After two massive floods in two years, and still no public performance evaluations, no after-action reports, no emergency protocol transparency, MWRD has made one thing clear: they expect the public to absorb the damage while they posture for headlines.
If technical expertise had driven policy since 2019, Chicago might not have to keep mopping up the same disaster.
There needs to be a forensic accounting of MWRD priorities. A technical audit of TARP performance under recent storms.
And a serious conversation about who holds power over Chicagoland flood control — because right now, the water is winning.
Photos and video stills used in this report were publicly posted on social media platforms including Twitter/X, Instagram, and YouTube by storm chasers, residents, and local journalists. All visual media is used for public interest reporting and commentary under the Fair Use doctrine (17 U.S. Code § 107). Sources are credited where available.
