A Flash Flood Warning was issued Tuesday evening as a sudden round of thunderstorms pounded the city of Chicago Tuesday night.

The warning affects a section of Chicago and nearby suburbs. The entire downtown area is included.

Flash flooding is expected from the downtown area through the West Side, north to the Near North Side, and south to the Near South Side, Bronzeville, Bridgeport, and McKinley Park.

A Flash Flood Warning means streets, underpasses, and other low-lying areas could flood rapidly.

The situation grew serious as the night went on. Roads flooded, and water rescues had to be made at more than one location on the West and Near Northwest sides. One water rescue was reported at Western and Ogden avenues, another along Fulton Street on the West Side, and a third at Ashland Avenue and Kinzie Street.

Basement flooding and other issues were also expected.

Rain was falling at a rate of 1 to 2 inches per hour. As of 10 p.m., 2.7 inches of rain had already fallen in the Loop, while parts of the city’s West Side — including Homan Square, Douglass Park, and Tri-Taylor, had seen between 4.5 inches and nearly 5.5 inches of rain.

By 10:15 p.m., 4.5 inches of rain had fallen in a period of an hour in the area of the United Center. Over 6 inches of rainfall had fallen on the West Side.

A Teddy Swims concert at the Huntington Bank Pavilion was evacuated Tuesday evening as the storms blew in.

Storms were also pounding the north lakefront through Lincoln Park, Lakeview/North Center, and Edgewater as of 10 p.m. 

The warning is in effect until 11:45 p.m. The heaviest action was expected to pull away from the city by about 11:30 p.m.

Adam HarringtonAdam Harrington is a web producer at CBS Chicago, where he first arrived in January 2006.

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