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! )