Palatine resident Joe Cyganowski thought he was prepared. After all he had four sump pumps in the event his house was in the middle of heavy rains.
But Cyganowksi wasn't ready for what Mother Nature had in store for him early Saturday morning.
"We came back from being downtown and it was raining hard," Cyganowski said. "I had all four sumps going and the water was pouring through the window wells. It was like living in a fish tank."
Cyganowski, who had about 18 inches of water in his basement and lives next door to green space on Tower Road said he had never seen the water rise so high there.
"It was amazing," Cyganowski said. "The City has come out and lowered this area so it could contain more water. It would have worked great if we got three-plus inches. But we got about seven. There is five to six feet of water out there now."
All over the Palatine area, people were bailing and trying to dry out.
Palatine resident David Carillo had his generator running after losing power at his home on Crescent. Carillo purchased the generator three years ago, but needed to go to Home Depot for a larger gas can.
"They had a long line for generators and were just about out," Carillo said. "I needed a bigger gas can to keep up."
Tom Bauman was trying to fish out his garbage can lid from a creek next to his home on Middleton.
"The flood came up to the garage and the wind blew off the lid and the water carried it away," Bauman explained. "It got one of our Adirondack chairs."
Laura Ott, who lives across from the Riemer Resevoir says she expects the waters to rise in it.
"It was really down this past week," Ott said. "This may go over tomorrow. Especially if we get more rain."
The parking lot at Park Towne Condominiums in downtown which flooded from the rain had cars strewn throughout it.
Jonathan Spencer came out to find his 2004 Dodge Ram unable to start because of the high water.
"It was inside the cab," Spencer said. "I got a call from the president of the association at 3 a.m. and went out and tried to move it. It went a few feet and stalled and it hasn't started since."
Jill Ramion was a bit more lucky than Spencer. She parked 20 yards south of Spencer in the same lot, but on higher ground.
"I have parked there before," said Ramion, whose Mazda Tribute had water up to its floor boards. "But this was the spot that was open."
Ramion, along with friend Katherine Siegle came out to see if Ramion's car would start, which it did.
"That made me happy," Ramion said as she held up her floormat to allow the water to drip from it.
Palatine councilman Brad Helms was not immune to the onslaught. His basement had more than six inches of water and had a pump trying to clear it out.
"I got up at five and found the basement flooded with ther wrong type of water," Helms said. "It was a rec room for us, so we lost a couch, TV, a game system and other stuff."
Helms is also the superintendent of Palatine Hills Golf Club. He said the course has "never been worse" from the heavy rains.
Dea Wittmeyer, whose townhome backs up to the course, agreed.
"This is the worst I have seen in the 23 years I have lived here," Wittmeyer said. "It has flooded here before, but this is the closest it has ever got to my house."
Steve Van from the Plum Grove Hills subdivision was carrying out carpeting from his basement.
"It floods bad here when it rains here," Van said. "It is like a watershed here. I have been living here so long, I have learned how it is working."
Palatine was offering sandbags from its Public Works building at 148 W. Illinois to residents. Meanwhile, ComEd was attempting to restore power to lines all over the area.
