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.

Albany Park Flood victims can still get Disaster Food Stamps

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

As I mentioned in the entry on my disaster food stamp experience, the deadline for Albany Park flood victims to apply for emergency Disaster Food Stamps has been extended until Wednesday, October 22, 2008.

The application must be made in person at one of the Illinois Department of Human Services offices, and it took quite a bit of time due to the volume of applicants.

From Chicago Tribune mobile edition:

More than 500 flood victims seeking food stamps lined up outside two Chicago-area state offices early this morning apparently unaware that the offices were closed.

This comes a few days after 3,000 people lined up at a Blue Island location, sparking officials to bring in portable toilets and local police to control the crowds. There also were hundreds of people at other locations.

"We understand it's a testament to the economic crisis and when you couple that with a national disaster, that's what happens," said Marielle Sainvilus, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Human Services.

On Saturday, lines formed, some say as early as 1 a.m., at offices in Calumet Park on Chicago's south side and Blue Island. Maintenance employees contacted the administrators at the Illinois Department of Human Services and staffers were sent to the scene to tell the crowd that offices are not open Saturday and Sunday, Sainvilus said.

Next week, office hours will be extended until 9 p.m. at about a dozen locations.

The deadline for flood victims to apply for food stamps was extended from Friday to Wednesday.

Disaster Food Stamps are given to families based on cash resources available to a household during the disaster.

For example, a 4-person family with a maximum allowable income of $2,328 a month would receive $565 in food stamps. A qualifying 3-person family would receive $445 and 2 persons $311.

Most benefits will be available within three days of the date of application.

Applications for Disaster Food Stamps can be filed at Illinois Department of Human Services offices listed below:

Cook County / Chicago

Calumet Park
831 W. 119th St., Chicago
(773) 660-4700

Humboldt Park
2753 W. North Ave., Chicago
(773) 292-7200

Wicker Park
1279 N Milwaukee, 3rd Fl., Chicago
(773) 292-2900

The Tribune missed the Skokie location to which I went (8020 N. St. Louis, Oakton and Central Park). There weren't thousands of people there, only a few hundred. Also, the income is based on income for the 4-week flood period minus damages. So if you have a 2 person family income of $5,000 gross (and would not normally qualify for food stamps), access to cash of $1,000, but you had $5,000 of damages, you would qualify. The amount of food stamp money you get for emergency disaster relief is a one-time thing; it does not repeat.

There was another article on Disaster Food Stamps today at Breaking News, and it attracted many angry comments. I couldn't resist responding to those angry people, so I added an entry for my Disaster Food Stamps comments.

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

(Next part of the Albany Park Flood Story: Complaints (some nasty) about Disaster Food Stamps. )

Albany Park Flood .. Restoring DVD's -- Week 3

(Our personal flood story, complete with pictures, starts here at "Record Breaking Chicago rains". )

We have received updates and information from both the Albany Park Neighbors site and from the office of Alderman Laurino. I'll post that in a separate entry.

I would love to know how other people in the area are doing with clean-up and repair after the Albany Park flood. It's very slow here.. We don't yet have all of the carpeting pulled up nor do we have all of the wallboard down. My goal is to pull up the rest of the carpeting on the east half of our basement in the next 2-3 days, dry out that part of the basement, put down a tarp, and then start moving all of the saved items over to that side, also all of the saved items from upstairs, which are still cluttering our upstairs living room.

I happened to come across a video from the University of Iowa on salvaging and cleaning old records and DVD's. The University of Iowa, which is located in a beautiful location on the Iowa River in Iowa City, experienced unprecedented flooding last June. The library, the arts campus, and the student union building were seriously damaged, and many buildings are still closed. This video was recorded by the Preservation Department and it gives a demonstration of restoring both old records and DVD's.

Though we were able to save many or our DVD's from the flood, we still have many that were underwater. I will try the approach they suggest, which involves washing the DVD's in distilled water, then drying them first with alcohol, then hanging them to dry.

I haven't mowed my grass since the flood, and I still haven't planted the chrysanthemums that I bought just two days before the big rains. I think our autumn decorations will be a bit sparse this year.

(Next part of the Albany Park Flood Story: Albany Park Gets FEMA aid! )

Normal depth of the Chicago River: 2 feet!!

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

Earlier today I read that the normal depth of the Chicago River North Branch is all of two feet! (Sorry, I can't find the link.)

It had crested at 8 feet and caused such a mess.

A two-foot deep river!

(Next post: Restoring DVD's )

The River Watch Saturday night

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

It was still raining Saturday night, and I walked the street with my raincoat on, soaked anyway.

Here's a short video I found on YouTube. It was taken about two blocks west of our house, on the other side of the flooded park:



Flood from Avers and Foster on YouTube .

We didn't have any water in our street on Saturday afternoon, but with floods all around us, I was worried.

I kept going back to the river. I had spotted a tree and that tree was my guidepost. The river rose past that tree. Would the river rise over the little hill that separated the bicycle path from the alley and the homes on our street?

I went out to the front of our house. I walked down to the river. I had a guidepost up there also.... Would the river rise above that guidepost and start to inundate our street as it had inundated the 5000 blocks of Monticello and Central Park?

Sometime in the evening the water did start to tumble into our street. It stayed in the street, just in front of the southernmost houses on our street, and it didn't go up the lawns to people's houses. Maybe that was a good sign!

I watched all evening, in my raincoat, until 9 or 10 o'clock. The river didn't seem to be getting any higher on the far southern side of our street. Perhaps we were going to be o.k.

In our home, down in our family room, we were still safe and sound.

And then we heard water.

Just a few drops, but it was definitely water. Where was it coming from?

It was in the laundry room. Behind the refrigerator. Paul pulled the refrigerator away from the wall, and we saw a trickle of water underneath it. Just a trickle.

Maybe there was something wrong with the refrigerator?

No such luck... we noticed drops emerging from heretofore-unnoticed cracks in the basement floor around the drain in the laundry room. First just one little rivulet from one tiny crack, then another. But the water was dripping from those little cracks right into the drain, so that wasn't much of a problem. Nothing else in the basement seemed wet.

I went back to watch t.v., Paul was out in the garage doing something. And then I noticed that I didn't hear that little flow of water anymore.

Maybe the water had stopped? Hopefully, I went over to the drain to look.

Then I saw why the flow of water had stopped making the little gurgling noise.

Next part of the story: Here comes the water!

Chicago River --- The North Branch

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

Most people think of the Chicago River as the large body of water that the city dyes green on St. Patrick's Day. The Chicago River runs through the heart of downtown and occasionally people are delayed as they have to wait for the bridges to open to allow tall boat traffic to pass along the river. People take Chicago River commuter boats from the train stations to work locations farther north near Michigan Boulevard.

There's been development along the river... walking paths have been built downtown and there has been recent house and condo construction on the near north side of the city.

As the river moves north, it becomes more pastoral, and boaters and kayakers are often seen on the Chicago River.

I always thought that the Chicago River continued north, through the Ravenswood Manor neighborhood, then following McCormick Boulevard, eventually winding up near the BaHai temple in Wilmette.

But only part of that stream is the Chicago River. The "real" Chicago River actually starts far north, in the Skokie lagoons, with various little branches that criss cross Glenview and other northern suburbs. There's a West Fork that bisects downtown Glenview. Sometimes it doesn't have any water in it. The creek that runs through the Wilmette golf course finds its way south to the Chicago River. These streams join and become the North Branch somewhere near the golf courses that border Golf Road in Glenview and Niles.

The river meanders south near Caldwell Avenue in Skokie, winding through... well, more golf courses. Someone with nothing better to do should count the number of golf courses that this river touches.

It finally crosses the Edens about 5600 north, and starts to head east. It crosses more parks, three cemeteries, our community (Albany Park/North Park), and North Park University before it waterfalls into the North Channel near Foster and Albany avenues. There's a park where the little North Branch meets the much larger North Channel, and it's a beautiful place for short hikes. Then the little branch heads south into the big Chicago River that is much better known.

When the Skokie lagoons and the various little streams in Glenview fill, the North Branch looks more like a stream than a creek. But that isn't too often and it still doesn't spill its banks.

But after the record-breaking rains of Friday night and Saturday morning, September 12 and 13, 2008, the various tributaries were full to capacity, sending torrents into the peaceful little stream and causing chaos in the city.

Next part of the story: River Watch Saturday Night

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