14 inches of rain

[Q4960]

I got back a few minutes ago after a long day into Northern Illinois. I went to our Silver Creek & Stephenson Railroad in Freeport and saw what 14 inches of rain in about 48 hours can do. Our whole depot area including rolling stock and the engine shed is under about two to three feet of water. At the present time I have no clue what sort of damage has been done to our roadbed, two bridges and right of way but I'll try and post some photos tomorrow or the next day.

[Wowak]

I found out very recently first-hand what flood waters can do. I lost just about everything in the flooding in Nashville in May. (Didn't hear about that? Not surprising.. it was the same week the BP spill started.. no one cared that most of Nashville was underwater, including Opryland, the Titan's stadium, and all the famous bars on 2nd avenue.) Anyway, my home was under about 6 feet of water.

[Mark D]

Hi Wowak
Most of us did hear about the flooding in Nashville, but not through the drive-by media. It didn't matter much to them... After all, it's a part of the country where the BIG POL's don't hang out much. I didn't know, however, that you were in Nashville at all, and I didn't k now that you were personally flooded. That was something that wouldn't make it into any national media.
It must have been a terrible loss to try to recover from. In fact, I don't think one ever totally recovers from a loss of that type, flood, fire, etc. To many items of personal historical significance are destroyed. Photo's etc. Plus what it takes financially to recover is resources that could easily have gone to improving life rather than just trying to get back above water. That pun was intended, I guess, but it seems to fit.
Please post some photo's of the Silver Creek & Stephenson Railroad. For that matter, it's something I and probably many others know nothing or very little about. Here's a good time to publicize it a bit?
Mark D.

[Charles T. McCullough]

I found out very recently first-hand what flood waters can do. I lost just about everything in the flooding in Nashville in May. (Didn't hear about that? Not surprising.. it was the same week the BP spill started.. no one cared that most of Nashville was underwater, including Opryland, the Titan's stadium, and all the famous bars on 2nd avenue.) Anyway, my home was under about 6 feet of water.

Mr. Wowak: What do you need now?

[Wowak]

Right now, I need nothing. I'm staying with a friend who isn't interested in talking about the rent I should be paying. Eventually I'm going to need furniture, but thats kinda tough to get from out of town. It was somewhat shocking how quickly my basic needs were covered, even though I haven't seen a dime from FEMA. The community here did a fantastic job. Fortunately(?) I was renting, I didn't own the house, so rebuilding isn't my problem.

On the bright side I got a bunch of new clothes. *shrug*

[Charles T. McCullough]

Mr. Wowak:

I am heartened to hear you are in a stable situation... God bless good friends! Do you still have a job? A car? Have you been able to recover any of your personal posessions, photos, mementos, etc.?

We are in the second year of recovery here in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, after the flood of 2008. People are still working to restore homes or get them torn down. The city is still working on finding the owners of some of the homes so they can be dealt with! People just up and left, not realizing (or maybe unable to mentally handle) the fact that even though the house was destroyed, the land still has some value and there are legal factors that must dealt with before the city can proceed, even if they (the owners) have abandoned the property and have no intent to return or to claim ownership.

Some people were able to jump on the immediate problem and through perseverance (and good friends), have repaired their homes, while others were so disheartened that they didn't even attempt to protect what was left of their property by boarding up the house against further damage from vandals, rodents or more of the elements. One misguided individual attempt to burn his house down, rather than deal with the clean up and repair. I suppose it seemed a good idea at the time, but most of the houses in that area were about 5-ft distant from each other and if the fire department had not gotten there in time in might have undone a lot of repair already done to other houses in the area.

But this disparity between the two has resulted in neighborhoods that have a couple of fully restored houses (and families) amidst some houses in mid-repair and others in total disrepair or abandonment. Makes for very strange neighborhoods with clean lawns and jungles in a crazy patchwork.

I sincerely hope that FEMA has taken to heart some of the lessons (they should have) learned here and can apply them to Nashville.

I have always felt a kinship with you (our mutual enjoyment of railroads) and I will be more than willing to be of any aid to you that I can. This site has Private Messages available so contact me that way if you wish.

[Wowak]

Fortunately my car was with me across town on higher ground. There was very little of value I was able to recover. I still have a few things in a storage unit in FL, but I'd made several trips bringing things up to Nashville, so its really the things I cared about least that survived down there. All of my guitars were ruined with the exception of my bass, it was in a high-impact foam case that floated. It still got wet, but I was able to disassemble and clean it. The rest of my guitars, amps, pedals, etc were ruined. I tried to clean, disinfect and oil all my tools as quickly as I could get to them, but many of them are already showing accelerated rusting. My friends and former bandmates in NY and FL pitched in and bought me a new accoustic guitar, that was quite nice of them. Its pretty crazy, though, however briefly it lasted, to own little more than the clothes on my back. It makes you re-think acquiring physical property in the hopes that it will bring you happiness.

[Mark D]

Yeah, wowak, you are right about having stuff. Stuff isn't what brings happiness. Happiness comes from within and posessions have little, if anything, to do with it.

Meanwhile, I heard on the news that a dam broke in Iowa, flooding a large downstream from it. I was wondering whether the planned QJ excursions this past weekend were affected, but apparently not as I heard they went off without a problem.

And the flooding in Illinois sure put some people out of their homes! I'm not sure which part of the Chicago area was affected, but I heard something about West Cicero. That wouldn't be far from part of the well known CB&Q Race Track, would it? I also heard on the news that a "multi track commuter rail line" had been flooded. I wonder if they meant the Race Track? Anyone know?
Mark D.

[Don C.]

To Wowak, Charles and Mark,
I lived in New Orleans from 1990 until early 1993 and enjoyed the city very much. I have had to go back since 2006 to stay qualified to operate future evacuation trains should another storm threaten the city. I was also through Cedar Rapids last year after the 2008 floods. Charles description of the hop-scotch pattern of rebuilt and abandoned homes is exactly like many locations in New Orleans. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to the rebuilding except, I suppose, a little more tenacity on certain people's part and maybe a "better" insurance company. I suspect that Nashville is experiencing a similar pattern of restorations/abandonments.

Mark is absolutely correct that while physical possessions can bring some comfort and security, your health, family and friends are really essential to be truly happy. It sounds like you have some great friends who are assisting you through your trying times. I wish you well for a full recovery from the terrible effects of your ordeal. Stay strong and maintain a positive attitude.

Mark, I did not hear about the BNSF triple track being closed during Friday/Saturday's near record rainfall in Chicago. One of my co-workers lives within spitting distance of the BNSF tracks at Brookfield and his home is located next the the normally placid Salt Creek. He had water in his basement so I suspect that it was at least close to the bottom of the BNSF bridge over the same watercourse. The former C&NW (now UP) might have had problems as it is located several miles further north and closer to the area which received the torrential downpour.

The Chicago River that runs adjacent to the Amtrak coach yard and Union Station did flood some adjacent structures and the locks into Lake Michigan had to be opened to avoid flooding others including Chicago Union Station. Of course that caused all of the Chicago beaches to be closed because of the waste water which mixed with the rain water. Can you say E coli? Amtrak could not wye any trains until mid afternoon on Saturday account both south legs of the wye just east of Union Avenue interlocking were flooded. Union Station also experienced multiple switch and track circuit failures due to the heavy rain.

Several major Chicago area expressways/Interstates were closed due to flooding or traffic was only getting through in one lane. There was a ten mile back-up on I-294 southbound due to flooding at Cermak Road. The northbound back up was over five miles long. Many surface streets experienced flooding particularly at low lying points such as railroad underpasses. I made the mistake of venturing to a hobby shop in Des Plaines on Saturday morning, totally ignorant of the extensive flooding in the area. Once on I-294 and seeing the back-up southbound I tuned into WBBM newsradio and found out exactly how bad it was. What is normally an hour and one half to a two hour trip became over a four hour ordeal.

One question and I'll quit this thread.....Why are we having 100 year rains about every five years? I suspect it can be attributed to paving of more land and the channeling of the water into overburdened waterways. If it can't soak-in, it has to run off. "Another fine mess you've gotten us into, Stanley!"

Don C.

[Mark D]

Thanks for the report, Don. I didn't realize the water was so widespread over such a large percentage of the Chicago area. I guess I thought it was more a few isolated areas near creeks or small rivers. I never thought about the Chicago River.
I suppose that let a bunch of those Asian Carp into Lake Michigan.
All I know is I heard there was flooding in Chicago and one of the worst hit areas was, according to radio, West Cicero.
I suppose the Chicago River runs through it.

As far as "100 year rain's" goes, I think it's mostly up to the talking heads to call it that. I've seen storms of all types that are much more vigorous than one that they might seize upon to call the "100 year storm."
But your point about more and more pavement that doesn't allow water to soak into the ground is certainly creating a setting for greater damage from less rain than in the past.
I guess Saturday it poured rain in the Twin Cities, raining out the Twins game. Out here, only 65 miles west, it was clear blue sky everywhere I could see. Gorgeous day!
A couple more rainouts of ball games and the people with big mouths will be screaming for a domed stadium... Oh wait! We''ve been there, done that.
Mark D.