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.

Natuzzi Leather Sofa Meets Its Maker

Ever want to see the innards of a sofa ---- A Natuzzi Leather Sofa in particular?



(As usual, you can click on the pictures for the gory details.)



Nope... it's not pretty.



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

Paul's Natuzzi leather sofa was indeed very comfortable and very attractive. It was comfortable for sleeping as well, as I fell asleep on it many times while he stayed awake watching something on T.V. Some nights when I just couldn't sleep and I was up tossing and turning, I'd take my pillow and a blanket and I'd manage to fall asleep on that sofa.

The sofa wasn't in great shape as Paul's cat, the cat that disappeared this year, had occasionally used the sofa as a scratching post. But it still looked good and it was comfortable. He'd had it for about ten years, several years before I met him, and he really loved that sofa.

The sofa was completely underwater during the Albany Park flood, and afterwards it was completely waterlogged. I could barely push the thing a few inches so that I could cut the rug out from under it. It wasn't going to be moved up the stairs, so the obvious solution was to break it up and haul it up in pieces.

Two of Paul's coworkers volunteered to come over a couple of weeks after the flood and do the deed. I found the axe and a hammer or two and they set to work.

The Death of the Natuzzi leather sofa in pictures

Boy, it would be great to start with a picture of the leather sofa in its glory, but I couldn't find one. Maybe some other time.

Here is the sofa underwater, to the right with the blue pillow on it:



Here it is, full of mold, with futon leavings drying on it:



In the process of being taken apart:





All that is left.. what couldn't be carried out was swept up into contractor bags:



Adios, Natuzzi leather sofa... Another victim of the Albany Park flood bites the dust.

(Next part of the Albany Park Flood Story: December Chicago Flooding: High anxiety time )

Albany Park Flood Recovery and Barack Obama

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

What a gorgeous fall day in Chicago! The city looked great last night for all of the Barack Obama election festivities, and it is exciting to anticipate a "Midwest White House" and a lot of attention to our city over the coming years.

I was touched by the emotions of middle-aged and older black people as they reacted to Barack Obama's election. I grew up in the 50's and the 60's. All of us, white, black, and everybody in between, have come a long way in terms of tolerance and acceptance. Older black people grew up in a time when they had to struggle to go to school, struggle to get voting rights, struggle to eat in certain restaurants, struggle to live. I don't know that anybody who grew up back then, those of us in our 50's or 60's or older, could ever have imagined that a black man could be elected President. It doesn't really matter of what political persuasion you are; Obama's election is an amazing statement about this country. I wish him (and all of us) the best.

But this isn't a political blog. So I'll continue with our attempts to get our lives back in order after the Albany Park flood of the Chicago River.

We have sewer/drain insurance. We still do not have the money from the insurance claim. Well, we almost do, but our bank has a hold on the check. The frustration of trying to deal with this insurance check has been just overwhelming. We were told that banks often put 10-day holds on such checks because they often "come back". Why would an insurance check written by a corporation come back? I also wonder if banks are holding onto things longer (not making the funds "available") due to the whole credit fiasco.

I think I will call the insurance commission today and at least lodge a complaint. And the FEMA people have left Northeastern. I guess if we still have questions, we have to use the FEMA hotline.

It's overwhelming. I think I said that already.

(Next part of the Albany Park Flood Story: Natuzzi Leather Sofa Meets its Maker )

Albany Park Flood cleanup... Week 6

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

Recovering from the Albany Park flood should be getting easier, but both psychologically and physically, it seems to go up and down.

Good News; Bad News

The good news is that the humidity in our basement is under 40%, which is pretty normal for this time of year. The drier the area, the less friendly environment for molds and bacteria.

The bad news is that we're still pulling moldy stuff out of the basement, and I've just started taking down the wallboard. I've got the worst of the wallboard down, which was in the laundry room and the bathroom. It's just slow going, and though I'm getting much better at hammering down the wallboard and cleaning up any obvious mold, I'm only one person.

Most frustrating for us now is the fact that we still don't have our insurance check. We've signed off on the "loss statement" over a week ago, and I badgered our agent a few times this week.

The upstairs is still full of stuff, and that is starting to be difficult to deal with. I'm still a good week or two away from having things clean enough in the basement to start bringing stuff down there so the upstairs can be habitable.

"Progress" in the Bathroom after the Albany Park Flood

First, a peek into the downstairs bathroom when we still had 3-4 feet of water in it. This is just the entryway, as we weren't going to walk all of the way into it with 3-4 feet of muck. That white thing is a little shelf unit that used to sit up against that wall and hold toiletries, towels, etc. The water is higher in the first pic than in the second:





After the water was out, we were left with this mess... and I didn't take any really good pictures of the bathroom mess.. It actually was much worse!





The doors down there are all warped; they will all have to go.

Where We Are Now

This is where we are now. I first filled a couple of contractor bags with water-logged toilet papers, soap, miscellaneous undistinguishable medications and toiletries, stuff that was in the vanity under the sink, garbage from floating garbage cans, etc. The bathtub and the sink were loaded with stuff that had floated into the bathroom and remained when the water went down the drain. I knocked down that moldy white shelf unit and loaded it into contractor bags. Then I cleaned and bleached the floor, the toilet, sink, and bathtub, all of the walls, even the ones that will go.

I pulled down most of the wallboard, cleaned and bleached the wall behind the wallboard and the studs. There must have been two rooms there once upon a time.. part of the wall behind the wallboard was white, part was green. We also noticed that the rehabbers must have knocked out some of the cement from the wall behind the studs.... perhaps to make room for the studs? The vanity will have to go, but for now, the mold has been contained... There is discoloration and stains, but no mold:





The toilet paper holder actually survived the flood. Complete with new toilet paper, the downstairs toilet is now very clean and completely usable.

Every Man's Dream

Oh, I almost forgot! Paul had a reading stand down there in the bathroom, full of magazines about cars, motorcycles, and guitars. All of those magazines resulted in three heavy bags of sodden reading material. We did save the little stand. And we also had a T.V. by the toilet (The T.V. was saved and is now upstairs.).. The movable mounting unit for the T.V. can still be seen on the wall, even though the wallboard has been pulled out around it. (That's every man's dream.. a reading table and an HDTV in the bathroom opposite the toilet.)

So that's where we are. Six weeks (or is it now seven?) after our lives and our home were completely disrupted by the Albany Park flood!

(Next part of the Albany Park Flood Story: Insurance checks and Barack Obama. )

Disaster Food Stamps... Comments Part 2

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

More comments from readers of the article on disaster food stamps:

If you don't want to read more of these comments about Disaster Food Stamps, just continue here: Next part of the Albany Park Flood Story: Albany Park Flood Cleanup Week 6

The published comments are in italics, my replies follow:

Two words, Job and Insurance. I too had a flooded house and my insurance covered most of the stuff. I did have to shell out a couple hundred bucks extra to get food, but oh well. I work hard, full time, and although I dont make alot of money I make enough to support myself, my family, pay the bills on time and have a little extra to go out and do stuff once in a while. Now my taxes go to put food on the table to lazy unemployed people that want to milk the system. I didnt have money for college, so I got a job, worked hard and worked my way up. I live on my own, pay my bills and am going back to school to earn my degree. What I got I earned. I didnt impregnate my girlfriend 100 times and therefore am able to live. When I finish school and make more money then the kids will come.

Well, we had a job and we had insurance and we have savings. Our loss exceeds what we will get from the insurance and FEMA. If you needed and were entitled to the assistance due to food loss due to the flooded house, why wouldn't you pursue it (other than the wait)? If you were entitled to help, you could have swallowed your pride and received a couple of hundred dollars that could have helped you with your school. You have paid taxes, so, had you decided to apply for some food assistance, you would have also "got what you earned". The program is not designed to help lazy unemployed people; it is designed to help people who experienced significant loss due to a natural disaster.

WHAT does home damage and lost possessions have to do with FOOD?!?!? Thanks Bush! Thanks IDES/DHS! What am I missing here? (Other than a free ride like these BUMS!)

Can these people get a job already instead of waiting for a handout!! What a joke....

Lather, rinse, repeat. This program has nothing to do with people getting a job, nor with people being bums. Unfortunately, there are people who will take advantage of a well-intentioned program.

For all those who complain about the few dollars in food stamps, lets cut out all government handouts. Things like the gi bill for college and home purchasing, fha mortgages and insurance, home tax deductions, unemployment benefits, corporate tax credits and bail out loans and equity. Lets just send all of our money to Iraq like we been doing, instead of helping the people in the usa.

Unfortunately, this is the kind of program that is somewhat easy to abuse. But your point is well made.

Disaster food stamps for other places?

President Bush declared seven northern Illinois counties disaster areas after the heavy September rains across the region. (WHAT A JOKE!)

What about the people in NW IN who have lost everything due to the flooding there as well. Why hasn't the fearless leader in the white house think about those folks.

NW Indiana also had a Disaster Food Program a few weeks back. I'm not sure why they got theirs earlier than Illinois did.

My basement flooded and yes I lost alot of things food included that was in the deep freezer and no I didnt have the time or day to go and stand in line for foodstamps and yes I work full time and I'm a full time student raising my son on my own, where I lived the water came to my back door which have stairs that lead up to it. I wish I could get foodstamps!

It is truly unfortunate that many hard-working people who could benefit from this program will not be able to get the assistance to which they are entitled because they can't find the time to stand in line.

This is CRAZY!!! I had no power for 4 days, and I lost alot of food, but because my basement didn't flood I don't get anything!! What kind of proof did these people need to show to get this money?? Myself and the other people who had to go work and couldn't stand in line, what do we get? Just another great way to spend our hard earned tax dollars...

If you were in an area with no power for four days, even though you didn't flood, you might have been entitled to some assistance. They would subtract the value of the food you lost due to no electricity (probably $200-300) and compared it to your income and ready cash reserves for the month.

It's interesting that people up here are recieving aid. Houston has essentially been forgotten about at this point, and support was scarce when it was offered.

I just did a quick Google search, and read that 45,000 people in Texas signed up for Disaster Food Stamps. If that figure represents families applying vs. individuals, it means that at least 100,000 people in Texas did get Disaster Food Assistance.

I'm amazed at some to the ignorant comments the readers of this paper leave. Most have racist undertones, no compassion for the poor and needy, and are spoken in pride! These are "Americans" May God have mercy.

There are certainly angry people posting here. People don't like Food Stamps, and most of the people posting here are not distinguishing between regular food stamps and the disaster program.. and they are assuming that everybody who gets Food Stamps is some kind of lazy loafer.

Yes, we have worked!

And I'll bet you never worked a day in your life to just put food on the table amd make that mortgage payment all the while trying save for your kids college and retirement.

Because if you had to work for everything you've managed to accomplish in life, you wouldn't be so willing to see it be given away to someone else without your approval. You would have known from life experiences that there are a many scammers out there. The put more effort into beating the system than looking to do the right thing like find a job and pay for it themselves.

And once they attack you for being "rich" even though you are not, maybe then you'll understand.

You have led a sheltered life.

Umm... most of the people in my neighborhood work every day, pay mortgages and work hard to put food on the table.. and try to provide funds for their kids to go to school and hope they can eventually retire.

Then they are hit with four feet of water in their basement; washers/dryers/hot water heaters/furnaces that are trashed, furniture, supplies, food, possessions,photos, all gone. Thank heavens that some of us can tap into the taxes that we have paid for years and get a little something. I don't think that most people posting here have ever lived through this kind of disaster. I know I hadn't until five weeks ago.

VOTE WISELY!!! The people deserves the government it elects!!!

Lot's of heartless bigots out there. And some of you calling it socialism need to go back to school. The nationalizing (govt. buying) of our banks is a much more socialistic move. Both candidates and parties, as well as Bush pushed it through.

As I wrote above, Disaster Food Stamps have been around in some form since 1974. The program has been amended and formalized several times during several administrations. This is not a new program, nor a Democratic or a Republican program.

O.K, enough about disaster food stamps for people affected by the Albany Park Flood. Now let me catch my breath. Whew!!

(Next part of the Albany Park Flood Story: Albany Park Flood Cleanup Week 6

Disaster Food Stamps: Comments, Explanation

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

The Disaster Food Stamp program is getting more publicity today, and it's not necessarily good publicity. Here's a story about hundreds lining up for flood food stamps.

As of this minute, 24 people have posted comments, and many of them were enraged.... or the comments were based on false information. I wrote a comment, but it hasn't yet been posted. So here are my responses to some of those comments-- The published comments are in italics; my responses follow:

Disaster Food Stamps based on Flood Damage and Income

"The money was allocated based on the number of people in the home. Wendy Weather, a mother of two young kids from Calumet City, received $447 this morning, money on top of what her family normally gets in a month."

The money was allocated based on income, loss from the flood, and the number of people in the home. People were not entitled to get money from this program unless they had flood damage.

Get a freaking job already & quit relying on hard working American's to pay your bills!!!

If you had flood damage and the flood damage exceeded your monthly income or greatly reduced your monthly income, you could get Disaster Food Stamps. It had nothing to do with employment. Our damage was so severe, that we could have had a much greater income than we did that month and still qualified.

Disaster Food Stamp Program Was Started in 1974

We're going to have a country full of people with their hands out if that Socialist gets elected!

Get used to this.

In the words of the presidential candidate who is leading in the polls:

"I just want to spread the wealth around."

I don't think that either candidate would roll back the food stamp or the disaster food stamp program. The Disaster Food Stamp program has been around in some form since 1974, during a Republican administration.

So, if you line up and say you have water damage, you get food stamps? What a crock! Are the officials just taking your word for it?

My sense is that people requesting supplemental food stamps (people already in the program seeking extra allocations) might have been screened more carefully than those who were seeking one-time only assistance. This is just my impression; I don't know for sure.

What about the people with flood damage who work and couldn't afford to take the time off to wait in line?? This is an outrage!!!

I am not sure exactly what this person considers an outrage... that he/she couldn't take time off from work? Or that the program exists at all?

My comment is for Jeff and the other person with the comment, there were plenty of people that was in line that works so the lady that said along with her other income, maybe she was referring to her work paycheck. With the economy the way it is they should be giving food stamps away to people even though of us making 6 figures. My basement flooded but I couldn't go stand in a line for 11 hours like some folks did, just to receive food stamps for my family!!

I do agree that people who work and couldn't get away, or people with little kids (who can't stand in line for hours)-- and were entitled to these funds got the short end of the stick. Please remember that this is a one-time thing.

Pontiac, Il, Got Disaster Food Stamps in the Spring

Oh really? I don't remember Pontiac,IL getting food stamps when the whole town was basically under water this past January! We had to fight, and fight before FEMA would actually consider our flooding a "natural disater" At least the people in Pontiac are hard working and don't rely on the government for much, these people, wow, get real. Like they had the food stamps to begin with. What makes you think things are gonna change?

I quickly googled the state Department of Human Services site, and the people of Pontiac were entitled to disaster food assistance back in January. People in our neighborhood, Albany Park, are hard-working as well. Generally, every morning at 7 a.m., this block empties out as people get in their cars and go to work.

The article said nothing about these people not having jobs. I can't imagine ALL employers will not understand that you've recently been the victim of a flood and need to take a day off to handle matters.

The caption under the picture says the woman was not eligible, but then the article does not explain why she was considered not eligible...

The Disaster Food Stamp program has nothing to do with employment or lack of it. It compares damages and losses to income from any source to determine eligibility. I think that some people would be able to get time off to register for this program, and some would not.

Okay...is it just me or is anyone else wondering why in the heck a family of 3 needs an EXTRA $447 in food vouchers for a MONTH!!!!!!!

I'm really worried about how MY tax dollars are being given out. I struggle to pay bills, however they are paid and I'm fine. But that comes from proper money management and sacrifice. An EXTRA $447 is pretty outrageous.

I don't think you understand this program. It is designed to assist people who experienced significant loss due to a natural disaster. Most of the people who are entitled to such funds are not people who are already in the program. People are not entitled to extra funds unless they have significant flood damage.

I certainly hope that you never experience a $20-30 grand loss due to a natural disaster in the same year you are experiencing a loss of income due to unemployment or health problems... or both. Proper money management and sacrifice will only go so far when you experience one personal or natural disaster after another.

People lost EVERYTHING in their homes in the flood, including whatever dry goods they had in their homes.

And this job market has many many people out of work.

And likely many flood victims have jobs but used a vacation day to get in line for food vouchers.

Anyone who will wait in line for hours for food is DESPERATE.

I'll bet the people who are attacking those folks have never missed a meal in their lives.

Well, I wasn't desperate. Not Friday afternoon. I don't know if I would have stood in line for hours had I known the wait would be hours. And I was more desperate three weeks ago when we had to put down a down payment for a new furnace/water heater and we had to spend a small fortune on pumps, dehumidifiers, fans, and cleaning supplies... and my car broke down. We did have to throw away all of our refrigerated food as we had no electricity for several days.

I looked at the wait as getting $50-100/hr for my time and patience. And I felt that, considering all of the tax dollars that we (and our families) have paid over the years, it was good that we could get something back.

Not Only on the South Side

How does giving someone food stamps help them with a flooded basement? Sounds like another free giveaway to people that already recieve free services. Are there going to be locations around places that suffered the worst of the floods, like maybe Des Plaines?

I wonder if they will do a food stamp day in the northwest suburbs for all the people in DesPlaines that were flooded or if they have to travel all the way to the south side to collect?

WHAT does your home being damaged have to do with food? Are you saying they all kept their groceries in the basement?!? "Disaster unemployment insurance", you're gonna have to explain that too.

Yes, the people in DesPlaines are eligible, and there are centers in the NW suburbs. Nobody had to venture to the South Side. Many people in the areas hit hard by the floods lost power for days. The water in the basement resulted in no power which meant that all refrigerated foods needed to be tossed. Also, there were people living in garden apartments who lost all of their food. Some people stored extra food in the basement, perhaps they had a refrigerator or freezer down there, as we did. Unfortunately, most of those people could have used the assistance the third week of September, when the power came back on after the flood.

About the disaster unemployment insurance: I don't know much about that, but if you are faced with four feet of water in your basement or living space, or you are forced to move and/or stay elsewhere because your home is uninhabitable, you might find that you can't work while you deal with the crisis. Or your employer might be closed down due to the flood. Four feet of water in a living space is not the same as a few inches of muck in a basement. Just thank your lucky stars that you are never faced with significant damage due to a natural disaster. If you are ever in such a situation, you will be singing a very different tune.

There are more comments about disaster food stamps and my replies in
the next entry in the Albany Park Flood blog