Flood Time in Northfield Illinois

While the U.S. focused its resources and efforts on Huricane Ike, Chicago was flooded when between 6 to 12 inches of rain fell in a 24 hour period. Tens of thousands of homes were flooded.



As you can see from the video my eight year old son Chris had a lots of fun playing in the water. Most of the adults in soaked Chicago didn't have that much fun though.

With the Middlefork branch of the Chicago River in our backyard, we feel blessed to only have water in our crawlspace, garage, and laundry room. The crawlspace damage is severe requiring insulation removal and mold proofing. That's not too bad considering our tiny ranch house actually became an obstacle in the river's path and the river ran right around it.

My wife and I chose to move our family here and the river wasn't secretly placed in our backyard one night while we slept. We knew the risks and accepted them. Since we're in the flood plan and flood way, we pay more a thousand dollars a year to FIMA to live near the beautiful, yet dangerous river. That thousand dollars isn't too much for piece of mind.

There is no incentive for FEMA to fix flooding problems, in fact they make laws and strickly enforce them prohibiting protecting property in the flood plane from flooding. Yes, FEMA prohibits us from protecting our property from flooding. We can't put up a sea wall or grade our backyard to keep water going down the river. We can't add soil, rocks, or other "permanent" fixtures that are below the 100 year flood level. Insurance isn't protection, never has been, never will be. If FEMA doesn't protect us and they won't let us protect ourselves, then who will? Couldn't FEMA apply some of the billions of dollars they collect for flood insurance to dredge the river bed and use the extracted material to create a natural berm along the river's edge keeping the water in the river? You have to ask why FEMA doesn't want to solve the problem and why they prohibit us from doing so. Is it easier, cheaper, and most importantly more self-sustaining to watch the water rise and pay for clean-up?

When we purchase our second home and had some water damage after the first heavy rainfall, I just couldn't believe a 103-year-old farm house didn't have a sump pump in the basement. Had all of the previous owners used the same backwards logic as FEMA? Maybe, but then again, I've always been kind of lazy that way, trying to solve problems to save time and money.