Editor's note: This article was originally published in the Record Newspapers in July 2006.

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Up until July 17 the summer of 1996 had been typically hot and dry in the lower Fox Valley area.

Citing the increasing demand for water as a result of the dry conditions July 10, Oswego officials had even announced a mandatory lawn sprinkling ban in an effort to assure enough water in the event of a major fire.

But then the rain began to fall the morning of July 17 and did not let up until the following morning.

By the time the storm clouds finally cleared July 18, much of northern Kendall County and a large section of southern Kane County had been thoroughly drenched with a state record rainfall of more than 16 inches over the 24 hour period. Hundreds of people had been forced to evacuate their flooded homes, large sections of roads and highways had been washed out and property damage totaled in the millions of dollars.

To the surprise and relief of the county’s emergency service personnel, no local fatalities were reported.

County Supervisor of Assessments David Earl Thompson later estimated the total property damage in the county at roughly between $50 and $100 million, excluding damage to crops.

“It is beyond comprehension, really, the amount of rainfall we received. Hopefully, we won’t see it happen in our lifetime again,” Peter Wallers, an engineering consultant for the Village of Montgomery, told village officials and a large gathering of weary flood victims at village hall a few days after the storm.

Police, fire and paramedic crews labored to answer calls for help and oversee evacuation efforts as the rain fell and the flood waters rose. County Sheriff Richard Randall later estimated that the county’s 911 dispatching center received an estimated 3,400 calls for service during and immediately following the storm, about the same amount the center currently handles in a single month.

Hardest hit by the storm were communities in the Kendall County’s three northernmost townships: Oswego, Bristol and Little Rock, and Fox Township and Aurora and Sugar Grove Townships in Kane County.

In Oswego Township, Waubonsie Creek overflowed its banks in Montgomery as nearly 17 inches of rain fell on the village and in neighboring Aurora. Rushing waters from the creek flooded out a large section of the Parkview Estates Subdivision just north of the Kendall-Kane County line. Water was so deep along Park Drive in the subdivision that it completely covered cars that had been parked in streets and reached the roofline of some ranch homes.

Further downstream, creek floodwaters covered streets and filled basements in Oswego’s Heritage Subdivision, just east of Douglas Road. Near the village’s downtown business district, the surging creek pushed over a dam in Stonegate Park just east of Ill. Route 25 and lifted a century old iron bridge off its piers on North Adams Street.

Water from the creek and Fox River flooded the Alexander Lumber yard and the village’s public works facility off Harrison Street, causing extensive damage.

Meanwhile, in the unincorporated Boulder Hill Subdivision just south of Montgomery, streets and basements flooded as storm sewers and storm water detention lakes quickly reached capacity.

Like Waubonsie Creek, Blackberry Creek also overflowed its banks in Montgomery, just north of the county line. The creek’s flood waters surged east over Orchard Road and U.S. Route 30, flooding out homes in the unincorporated subdivision on Pasadena Drive.

Water that didn’t cross Route 30, flowed northward along Ill. Route 31, flooding businesses along the highway, including Schaefer’s Greenhouse and a lumber yard on the east side of the highway north of Webster Street.

In unincorporated Bristol Township an estimated 100 residents of the unincorporated Storybook and Willowbrook subdivisions along Galena Road had to be evacuated due to the flooding from the creek.

Near Yorkville, river flood waters forced the early morning evacuation of the Hide-A-Way Lakes campground just east of the city. Creek and river flood waters caused a significant amount of damage to the offices and laboratory of the Yorkville-Bristol Sanitary District’s plant. However, the waters stopped just short of flooding out and damaging the motors that power the plant.

Flood waters from the Fox River caused extensive damage to homes located along the riverbank from Yorkville west to Millington at the Kendall-LaSalle County line. Water rose as high as some roof lines on homes in the Blackhawk Springs Subdivision off River Road in Millbrook, while water climbed as high as four feet in the Ludwig mies van der Rohe-designed ‘Glass House’ near Plano.

Throughout the county, countless roads and highways were temporarily closed due to flooding or flood induced damage. Nearly a week after the flood, county officials reported that nine roads and highways were still closed to traffic, including River Road near Yorkville which was washed away just west of the Blackberry Creek bridge, and Ill. Route 47 at the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railway viaduct on the city’s north side. The road closures served to hamper police and other emergency crews in their flood relief efforts.

Within days of the flood, then-Governor Jim Edgar declared Kendall, Kane and 13 other northern Illinois counties state disaster areas. That declaration was followed by a federal disaster area declaration by President Bill Clinton. The disaster area declarations served to make area residents and business owners eligible for government flood relief programs and funding.