Willis tower

Willis Tower’s Basement Floods, Building Loses Power 

  May 19, 2020


By Greg Zimmerman


File this one under “when it rains, it pours”...literally. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, as many buildings are gearing up to reopen, a four-day bout of heavy rain in the Chicago area has flooded the Willis Tower basement, and power has been knocked out to the entire skyscraper, according to WGN.

The Chicago area got more than 8 inches of rain in a four-day period, and overflow from the Chicago River flooded Lower Wacker Drive and a ComEd substation that supplies power to the Willis Tower. 

At least one tenant - United Airlines - is being forced to move operations temporarily. A photo tweeted by Plane Business reporter Holly Hegeman showed the extent of the flooding in the building. 

As of Tuesday morning, the power to Willis Tower still had not been restored, as ComEd crews are waiting for water to recede from the substation, according to Fox32.

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