Bush Declares Chicago Flood a Disaster : Tunnels: Power begins to be restored as water rises in some buildings. Repairing the hole that let the river into Loop basements will take time.

President Bush declared downtown Chicago a disaster area Wednesday, assuring federal assistance to a city slowly beginning to recover from subterranean flooding that ultimately will cost businesses an estimated $500 million.

But even as power was restored Wednesday to many of the 200 buildings that had been without electricity for two days, the city received another scare when officials reported that water levels once again were rising in some downtown buildings.

Subway lines are expected to remain closed for at least another week, but Don Petkus, a vice president for Commonwealth Edison, the local electric utility, said that by this morning fewer than two dozen buildings will be without power. Nevertheless, the cleanup and a full recovery could take weeks.

The reason for the rising water in some buildings was unknown, but John Kenny, vice president of operations for Kenny Construction Co., which is supervising the repair effort, said he did not believe that it meant additional water from the Chicago River was flowing into the network of tunnels that underlie the central business district, popularly known as the Loop.

“We don’t seem to have a problem at the breach,” he said.

Officials continue to believe that they have successfully--if temporarily--plugged the automobile-sized hole that allowed 250 million gallons of river water to flow into the ancient tunnel system and flood basements, leading to a power blackout and massive evacuations Monday in a third of the Loop.

It was speculated that water rose in some buildings because of early morning rains or because water flowed between basements as it was being pumped away.

“At this time we’re experiencing some (water) going down and some going up,” said David Mosena, chief of staff for Mayor Richard M. Daley.

Efforts were continuing Wednesday to isolate the area of the breach by securely plugging the tunnels. It was tedious work.

Gigantic holes were drilled into three forks of the tunnel where the breach occurred. After crews temporarily sealed one fork by dropping thousands of sandbags down a shaft, a diver was lowered down another shaft to inspect the watery passageway.

Once silt is cleared away, the city hopes to plug the tunnel with a giant rubber stopper. When all three forks leading away from the leak site are plugged, workers will be able to permanently repair the hole.

Kenny said it would be difficult, time-consuming work because only one person can be lowered into the tunnel at a time and the water is murky and cold.

Mosena said an investigation into the cause of the flooding is continuing. Daley fired a top Cabinet official Tuesday after learning that the city Transportation Department had known for at least a month that water was leaking into the tunnel but had been slow to act. He suggested that disciplinary action might also be taken against other city employees.

“It (the investigation) has a long way to go,” Mosena said. “There are many people involved. It continues to proceed.”

Wallace Stickney, national director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, toured the site of the flooding Wednesday and said the calamity was unprecedented. Experts from FEMA and the Army Corp of Engineers are assisting the city.

The disaster area declaration means that the federal government may reimburse the city 75% of its costs in coping with the flood and its aftermath. It also means that businesses and individuals who lost property will be eligible for low-interest loans.

The Chamber of Commerce estimated that the flood will cost downtown companies $500 million in lost wages, productivity and business and that cleanup costs could double that figure.

The Chicago Board of Trade opened for just two hours Wednesday but hoped to extend its hours of operation today. Thomas Donovan, board president, said that, although he was not concerned about a permanent loss of customers, it was important that the futures market opens “as soon as possible.”

“When we’re closed for even a short period of time, the market being what it is, our business goes abroad,” he said.