March floods in Chicago.. High anxiety

(Our personal Albany Park flood story, complete with pictures, starts at Albany Park Flood- Record-breaking Chicago rains. )

Rain, rain go away!

It's four o'clock in the morning and it has been raining all night long.

We haven't had that much rain tonight, but we had 2-3 inches over the weekend, and that did serve to swell the Chicago River. It wasn't anywhere close to the flooding of September, but the river was out of its banks and the park a block west of our home was flooded. There are "flood advisories" and "flash flood warnings" all over the Midwest in anticipation of new rains tonight. I just noticed that a "wind advisory" has been added as well.

I can't sleep when it rains. I logon to the computer and watch the radar, checking out the basement and the street every half an hour or so. When the radar shows that the majority of the rain has passed and we're again in the green on the Weather Underground radar, I can finally rest.

That's just about where we are right now. The radar shows that those of us who are north of the city are "in the green" for now, while those south and southwest are still experiencing quite a bit of rain. Some of those areas had serious flooding over the weekend and some of the streams and rivers from the south and southwestern areas of the metro area were already at "moderate" flooding.

A check of our still-unfinished basement confirms that it is bone dry. I look out our front windows to the river and I see another sleepless soul walking over the bridge with an umbrella. This is a good thing... not that that person is also up at 4 in the morning looking at the river... but that he or she can walk that river path up to the bridge. The path, the picture at the top of my blog, was underwater last September. We've only received a half an inch of rain around here. Now we just have to wait until tomorrow; there's supposed to be more rain, and we'll see how much rain comes down from the river branches and the Skokie lagoons up north. We're not out of the woods yet, but I think I can sleep. For all of two or three hours.

Will I ever sleep through a rain again? That's a good question.

December Chicago Flooding - Anxiety Time

(Our personal Albany Park flood story, complete with pictures, starts at Albany Park Flood- Record-breaking Chicago rains. )

I'd been planning to add a post summarizing the experience of the Albany Park Flood and creating some kind of closure for this blog, as the effects of the September 2008 Albany Park Flood of the Chicago River are fading into the past. But not so fast!

On Friday we heard that we were due for some intense storms and that the temperature was going to spiral up into the 50's or 60's, melting the mounds of snow that had made travel so difficult over the past few weeks. The weather people and the news outlets were making it clear that, due to the rains and the high temperatures, the Chicago area could be in for serious mid-winter flooding. Not what we wanted to hear after we had just spent a couple of weeks moving a lot of stuff back down into the basement so that we could have a livable living room.

Friday afternoon the city trucks started sandbagging the block south of the river, the 5000 block of Monticello that flooded so badly in September. Listening to those dump truck and front loaders was eerie. The Chicago River was already fairly robust Friday evening, but nowhere near flood stage.

Saturday Chicago River Flood Watch

As the rains started, I pulled up Weather Underground on my computer and kept watch on the radar. I read everything I could find about the weather and the flooding, and I could not sleep. I awoke at 2 a.m. Saturday morning and couldn't fall back asleep until the first line of storms were gone, about 7 in the morning. But then I awoke again a couple of hours later when the next storms went through.

I kept looking down into our (still dry) basement every half hour. I actually felt very anxious, almost terrified.

The Chicago River was up over its banks yesterday morning, though from my living room, I could still see people walking along the path by the river. Back in September that path, pictured at the intro to this blog, was completely submerged. I did see people from the Water Department and Streets and San all over the area yesterday.

Flooding in Riverside and DesPlaines

There was no attention to Albany Park from the media, but there was much talk about flooding of the DesPlaines River in Riverside and DesPlaines. I read of people who had just moved back into their homes, just moved stuff back into their basements, who were again facing flooding. To be honest, the DesPlaines River has flooded in Riverside and DesPlaines ever since I can remember. I grew up in the western suburbs, and we all knew that that beautiful area of Riverside along the river was prone to flooding. I did feel for those people... to go through all that we all went through in September and then have it all happen again is very hard.

Saturday Night: No Albany Park Flood... yet

I continued my agonizing watch through Saturday, and I felt quite relieved when the radar showed that most of the rains had moved on to Michigan and places east. The weather and news people made it clear, however, that we weren't out of the woods yet. There was plenty of extra water up farther north, and these rivers might not crest until Sunday, Monday or even later.

I went out to do some errands about 7 p.m. Saturday evening, and I drove through the neighborhood. Though the Chicago River had blown its banks, it was nowhere near as high as it had been in September. The parks were waterlogged, but there was no flooding on any of the roads. Our basement remained dry, and I hope that is true of all of our neighbors. I did manage to fall asleep Saturday night.

But those reports of rivers still to crest weren't very comforting.

FEMA's temporary office at Northeastern Illinois University

(Our personal Albany Park flood story, complete with pictures, starts at Albany Park flood -- Record-breaking rains. )

FEMA has opened a temporary office in the Physical Education Building at Northeastern Illinois University, Central Park and Foster, to assist people who were impacted by the Albany Park flood. The signs to the offices are well-marked, and parking is available just a few steps away.

I ventured over there on Sunday, October 12th. I found the FEMA people to be caring and helpful. I had already applied for FEMA assistance and the inspector had already been here, so I was pleased to find that we had some emergency assistance coming. I hadn't expected anything until we heard from our insurance company. One of the FEMA people told me that I should hear something from the insurance within 30 days. If I don't hear from them within the coming week, I should talk to the Illinois Insurance Commission. We also might be able to get some temporary funds if there is a hold up in getting a settlement from our insurance company.

FEMA had set up several "stations"... One to deal with aid, one to answer questions about mold remediation, a few others that I can't remember, and there were representatives from the IRS and the state of Illinois as well.

We also may be able to get some food stamps to replace spoiled food. The expiration date to apply for the emergency one-time food stamp allotment is Friday, October 17th, so I need to check into that today. My family exceeds the income guidelines for such temporary assistance, but apparently there are exceptions due to the nature of the disaster, so I will apply and see what happens.

As we still have moldy stuff in the basement, somebody also said that there may be teams of volunteers to help pull out the rest of the stuff. I will check into that as well, but this week has been a bit chaotic... Paul was in the hospital for another test, so our schedule is off.

Life is simply very taxing these days.

(The Albany Park flood home page is at at Albany Park flood blog: One family's experience. )

(Next part of the Albany Park Flood Story: Disaster Food Stamps: A Disaster. )

FEMA's Disaster Recovery Office Now Open

(Our personal flood story, complete with pictures, starts at Albany Park floods-- Record-breaking rains. )

I received this message from the office of Alderman Marge Laurino:

FEMA Disaster Recovery Center
Opens In Albany Park


The head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that federal disaster aid has been made available to the state of Illinois. Homeowners, renters and business owners affected by the Albany Park floods of September 13-14, 2008 may be eligible to receive federal assistance.

To serve the needs of the affected residents, Alderman Laurino, State Representative John D'Amico, Congressman Rahm Emanuel, and the city's Office of Management and Communications worked with FEMA to open an office in the Albany Park community. The FEMA Disaster Recovery Center in Albany Park will provide face-to-face assistance to those who suffered damage.

The center will be located at:
Northeastern Illinois University
Physical Education Building
3600 W. Foster Ave.
Chicago, IL 60625


The center will open at noon, Tuesday, October 7. Starting Wednesday, October 8, the hours will be 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week, until further notice.

Residents should register with FEMA before visiting the center. There are two ways to register: log on to www.fema.gov or call FEMA's toll free number, 1-800-621-FEMA (3362), or TTY 1-800-462-7585. Both numbers are available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m, seven days a week, until further notice. Residents should register only once; duplicate registrations may cause delays in the delivery of assistance.

Before going to the center, residents should bring identification, Social Security numbers, insurance information, proof of address and contact phone numbers in order to help speed up the assistance process.

Services people can expect to receive at the disaster recovery center include:

* Guidance regarding disaster recovery;
* Clarification of any written correspondence received;
* Housing Assistance and Rental Resource information;
* Answers to questions, resolution to problems and referrals to agencies that may provide further assistance;
* Status of applications being processed by FEMA;
* U. S. Small Business Administration (SBA) program information; and
* Information from representatives of other federal, state, and local agencies.

More information is available online at www.fema.gov.


Special thanks to President Sharon Hahs and the staff of Northeastern Illinois University for working with FEMA to find a location for our local disaster recovery office. We appreciate their dedication to the Albany Park community.

If you want to subscribe to this e-newsletter, click on the link below or sign up at www.AldermanLaurino.com

There is also an article about the office on the ChiTown Daily news site:

Chicago storm victims seek relief through FEMA .

Thanks for the heads up on that article, Craig!

(Next part of the Albany Park Flood Story: FEMA's Temporary Office at Northeastern Illinois University. )

Albany Park gets FEMA aid

(Our personal flood story, complete with pictures, starts at Albany Park floods-- Record-breaking rains. )

It looks as though Albany Park is an official FEMA disaster area. I just saw this news item this evening:

Federal officials grant flooding assistance grants

Associated Press
6:49 PM CDT, October 3, 2008

CHICAGO - Federal officials have approved disaster aid for seven northeastern Illinois counties affected by severe weather last month.

The Federal Assistance Emergency Management Agency says the counties are Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, LaSalle and Will.

Residents are eligible for federal aid such as low cost loans for housing and programs for business owners to recover.

Record rainfall in September flooded hundreds of homes and businesses, forcing more than a thousand evacuations. Tens of thousands of people were without power.

Officials say they'll continue damage surveys and additional areas might be designated for assistance.

Governor Rod Blagojevich declared the seven Chicago-area counties state disaster areas last month.

I'm sure we will hear more about this at the meetings scheduled for the week after next.

(Next part of the Albany Park Flood Story: FEMA's Disaster Recovery Office Now Open! )

Albany Park Neighbors discuss Albany Park Flood

(Our personal flood story, complete with pictures, starts at Albany Park: Record breaking Chicago rains. )

If you haven't yet found or checked out the Albany Park Neighbors blog , please drop by as they have a wealth of information on their site.

Here are some notes about the meeting held last weekend:

This morning over twenty dedicated neighbors showed up for our second meeting. We shared the good news that we will have a meeting with Alderman Laurino on Monday, September 29. A smaller delegation will present our concerns to the Alderman and discuss what can be done. We also heard some personal stories from worried neighbors and two crews from Univision and WGN-9 news taped part of the meeting and interviewed neighbors. A big thank you to these channels for keeping this story alive. Be sure to tune in to the news tonight.

In addition, we shared a petition that will be sent to our representatives in many branches of the government, from local to federal. In the petition, we call on the local, state and federal government to:

1. Take measures to update Albany Park’s sewer and drainage system, eliminating annual water back-up issues by blocking rainwater and preventing sewer backup;

2. Take measures to protect Albany Park from flooding caused by the Chicago River, pushing through measures that were promised for years, including but not limited to berms and retaining walls;

3. Thoroughly review its response to the Albany Park flood—in particular anticipation and readiness, sandbagging the affected area and communication with the neighborhood—and institute necessary changes.


In the following week, you will see people on the street, at Kimball station and going from door to door, gathering signatures. If you want to volunteer your time to gather these important signatures, please contact us at albanyparkflood (at) gmail.com.

More updates to follow after Monday’s meeting. Stay tuned! And in the meantime, don’t forget to keep sending us your personal stories about the flood. Send them to albanyparkflood (at) gmail.com.

Flood plains and furnaces

(Our personal flood story, complete with pictures, starts at Albany Park floods-- Record-breaking rains. )

I just had to find those online FEMA flood plain maps again. I remember carefully checking them before we bought this house to ascertain that this house, as close to the river as it is, is not on a flood plain. It is not. But, I was somewhat surprised to see, the houses on the other side of the river, on the 5000 block of Monticello (which became part of the river during the flood) are on a flood plain, though I can't remember which exact "level" of flood plain. In fact the marking on the flood plain map followed the path that the river took down the 5000 block of Monticello very closely. I suppose I can say that, for us, this is just a 100 year flood. I hope.

(I just heard that these flood plain maps were changed very recently. If so, that is why I didn't remember any of the residential neighborhoods around here as being on a flood plain. That's disturbing. You buy a home that isn't on a flood plain, and then it is. I didn't know that could happen.)

I believe that I will never feel the same way about rain, especially if thunderstorms and heavy rains are predicted. I find myself getting tense if even a little rain is predicted. This summer I've watched the people of Iowa, western Illinois and Missouri who struggled with the floods. I was watching news about Hurricane Ike the same morning that the Chicago River was overflowing! But living through the mess and the rebuilding is different than watching these things on the news.

There must be some PTSD (post-traumatic stress) for all of us who have lived with this kind of destruction and loss.

I now have a shiny new furnace and a shiny new hot water heater. The shiny new hot water heater replaced the shiny new hot water heater that we just put in last January, unfortunately. But the old furnace was 15 years old. All of the work was done in a few hours, and we were able to enjoy hot showers last night.

We've spent over $2,000 so far including the down payment on the furnace/water heater, and other bills are late. We've only begun. The washer/dryer, all of the furniture down there, the wallboard; all a loss. Thank heavens we have some insurance, but it won't come anywhere close to covering most of this.

(Next part of the Albany Park Flood Story: Normal Depth of the Chicago River is Two Feet! )

Here comes the water!

(Our personal flood story, complete with pictures, starts at Albany Park floods-- Record-breaking rains. )

I realized with horror that I could no longer hear the gurgling of rivulets of water into the drain because the drained had filled.

My husband and I looked at the drain in the laundry room, now filled to the top with water, and we knew in a second what that meant.

The water was quickly above the drain and starting to fill the laundry room. My husband's initial inclination was to bail, using a big garbage can and starting to scoop up water and throw it into the stationary tubs.

I started to grab things off of the floor and put them on the stairs. Anything low, boxes of important papers, drawers with important papers in plastic file cabinets, Paul's vintage music box that was passed down to him from his grandmother.

After about 10 minutes my husband realized that bailing was going to do no good, and he joined me in frantically grabbing as much stuff as we could as the waters started rising higher and faster above the sewer drain.

I grabbed my computer and took it upstairs. We looked at our TV/stereo system and concentrated most of our efforts there. The Dish network box was low, near the floor, and my husband started pulling cables and wires. We got it out; the first AV piece up the stairs. The DVD player, the relatively new Yamaha receiver, amplifiers and other stuff, we somehow got out and up the stairs. We let the wires behind, figuring they were replaceable.

The big TV was on a stand, so we didn't take it at first, but then we realized that the water was rising fast... so somehow we struggled with the 50 inch TV and got it up the stairs, sitting it in the kitchen... where it still sits now.

One of our computers was on a little table. No, my husband said, let's not get it yet; the water is not that high. We were struggling with one of the big heavy Polk speakers, and the darned thing slipped out of our grasp and hit the water, knocking over the table with the computer at the same time. That computer... with all of our vacation pictures on it... was gone. We watched it sink.

The big Polk speaker, one of my presents to my husband back in 2004, was in the water. We got the other Polk speaker upstairs. Not sure what good one Polk speaker will do.

Sometime in there we heard a hissing. We realized with horror that the water had reached the level of the electrical outlets. "Pull the main!" my husband yelled, as I was closer to the circuit breaker box. So I walked over to it, pulled the breaker, and everything went dark. We continued to work with flashlights.

We did pull all of the posters and paintings off the wall as we didn't know how high the water was going to go.

The stereo stack was empty, the big TV was upstairs, the bathroom TV was upstairs. My husband had grabbed his clothes and they were upstairs. The water was continuing to rise; we were in water to our thighs by this time and it was just time to stop.

My husband wanted to save our bedroom TV, an older model Proscan that he loved and had had for 10 years. But it was heavy, heavier than the big Sony that we had somehow managed to drag up the stairs. My husband somehow managed to put it up on his dresser, but I dissuaded him from trying to move it up the steps with his bad neck. It wasn't worth another spinal surgery. Fortunately, he agreed, and that was the end of that.

So that was that. The end of our lovely family room/bedroom that was such a refuge for us. It was under water, the comfortable leather sofa, my husband's leather chair that he'd had for so many years, the water bed was starting to float. I grabbed the comforter and some of our pillows off of the bed at the last minute.

I took a last look around... the water heater and the furnace were sitting in about three feet of water by that time. The bathtub and the toilet were sitting in three feet of water. The washer and dryer were in three feet of water. My beautiful old teak dresser was taking on more water.

We went upstairs, hoping the waters would not follow us up the stairs. It was 4:30 in the morning and neither of us could think, much less walk or talk.

We closed the door to the basement and collapsed onto the couch.

Next part of the story: Shock after the Flood.

Our living room with all of the stuff that we "saved":





Next part of the story: Shock after the flood.

Record-Breaking Chicago Rains -- Chicago River rising

The Chicago River flooded and overflowed into the Albany Park neighborhood of the city of Chicago over the weekend of September 12-14, 2008. This is our personal account of our efforts to deal with and recover from the event now known as the Albany Park flood.

I think I'm still in shock, as I haven't cried yet. I'm trying hard to keep my mind from fixating on loss, but it's tough.

2008 has been a difficult year for us for many reasons. Paul had spinal surgery early in the year, then he was beset with shingles, a miserable and painful disorder, then a "bone contusion" in his foot. He was still having problems with his neck and arm, but I had been feeling that we perhaps had gotten over the worst of it.

But then came Saturday the 13th of September.

Friday the 12th was my birthday. My husband and I hadn't had much of a celebration as he had to work until 8, but he was hoping to get out by 5-6 o'clock on Saturday so we could go out for pizza. I was looking forward to it, as we really needed a "date".

I was sitting in my lovely family room Saturday afternoon watching reports of the destruction of Hurricane Ike, and I was going to meet one of my friends for coffee. Just as I was about to leave, I got an automated call from the city of Chicago: "Please remove your cars from the street as we are going to begin sandbaggging efforts." Sandbagging? I knew it had been raining, but sandbags?

Our Albany Park / North Park Neighborhood

We live near a small branch (the North Branch) of the Chicago River... The river is nothing more than a small picturesque stream as it runs by the bicycle path and the park at the end of the block. It's a beautiful neighborhood, one of the best affordable neighborhoods in the city. Single family homes, parks and trees and the little river give the neighborhood a suburban feel. The neighborhood is vital and ethnically mixed, close to public transportation, and it is safe and quiet. Perfect in so many ways and beautiful.

Our basement is completely finished as a family room/bedroom .... recessed lighting, wall-to-wall carpeting, painted walls, full finished bath. My son (17 when we moved) has his bedroom upstairs, on the main level, and we were downstairs.. plenty of privacy for all of us. When we were househunting three years ago and saw the rehabbed brick home with a finished basement... half a block from that
beautiful little stream..., we knew we were home!

We carefully investigated the flood potential of that little stream, and we were consistently reassured. No, we are not on a flood plain. The inspector thought our sewer and drainage system was excellent. The people who lived on the street, a street of solid brick homes all built 50 years ago, assured us that they had not any flooding. Plus we are higher than the park just a block away... and we are higher than the people who lived on the block south of the river.

The Albany Park flood begins Saturday afternoon

Back to Saturday... I looked out the front of our house to the street... It was steadily raining, but there was no evidence of anything amiss. I ran out the back of the house to the alley and down to the river to see what was going on... and my heart sank. I was astonished and terrified to see that the pretty little stream had blown its banks and had crept higher up the embankment than I had ever seen it. I walked over to the bridge and saw that the houses to the south of the river were inundated.

The river had expanded to fill half of the 5000 block of Monticello.

While people were sandbagging, the water was rising faster than the bags could be filled. City tow trucks were pulling out cars that were stuck in the rising waters.

The water was washing up approximately one foot against the home that was closest to the stream on the south side of the river. The bicycle path was submerged on the other side of the bridge and impassable. Only the tops of the park benches poked their heads out of the water.

What I hadn't known was that the rain on Friday night and Saturday morning was the heaviest ever recorded in Chicago. And it had come down fast!

On Saturday afternoon it was still raining; the river was still rising. Where would it stop?

North Branch of the Chicago River: Next part of the Albany Park flood story


(Click on the pictures for the full effect.)




More pictures at Flickr:

Flood pictures at Flickr

Next part of the Albany Park flood story