July 7 • Rain & No Electricity

At 6:30 AM, the electricity went out for two minutes. About three hours later, the electricity went out for good, shortly after the rain started. The usual scenario is that the electricity goes out on the north side of Oak Avenue. Only. This time is no exception, since lights were still visible on the south side of Oak. 

Another infrastructure thing. 

Imagine your entire power source is from one long extension cord hooked up to a neighborhood over a mile away. That's Com Ed's Rube Goldberg set up for the north side of Oak Avenue. That's the only thing that keeps our refrigerators, air conditioners, coffeemakers, microwaves, TVs, hair driers, stoves, etc., on the grid. We're only one wet wire away from melted ice cream and a bad hair day.  

Today we noticed something new. Two wires down at the corner of Oak Avenue and Cedar. We couldn't tell whether they were power lines or phone wires. No wind today.  But there were trucks in that area installing new telephone poles a few weeks ago. Today the whole corner was also wrapped in yellow crime scene tape to keep people and cars out of the area, but there were no service trucks around. 

The good news? The rain was only drizzle. 

[Action photo of downed wires below]

 We noticed after posting this picture that there is a village truck doing what we were doing when we encountered the yellow tape -- turning around. 

 The tape was wrapped around a tree, then attached to a sign, 

and blocked the street in three directions.

 We didn't know what the tape was for. Finally we realized that there were two downed wires off a telephone pole. At least we thought it was a telephone pole. 

We will go to any lengths to provide our readers with on the spot reporting when the first drop of rain falls. As long as we don't have to get out of the car.

So Many New Houses, So Little Infrastructure

Just for grins, we got out the preliminary design map from 1997, which was sent to Oak Avenue residents to illustrate a drainage pipe with catch basins. This was after eight yards flooded, when the VIllage allowed new construction on Oak Avenue that raised the grade. The water wouldn't drain for weeks, subsequently destroying one backyard,  [See a pattern? Raised grade, increased footprint, sump pumps dumping into backyards, failure to upgrade infrastructure = water problem.] 

The drainage pipe idea was rejected, although that's exactly what was needed. The residents didn't think they should have to pay $2000 apiece for it, when the Village caused the problem. And those were 1997 prices. Also, notice how the pipe was going to empty into Oak Avenue's storm sewer? Right where all the street flooding has occurred for decades. Really? That's where you would pipe Maple Avenue's run off? On purpose?

The Village figured out a way to solve the problem of standing water, after the resident whose backyard was destroyed came to a meeting with the Village and excised a few body parts, verbally. The Village managed to do something to a framitz in a gismo on Western Avenue [public property], so no residents had to pay any money. And voila! Rainwater began to drain from our backyards again. 

Today we are using the old map to compare the change in the 2400 Oak/Maple Avenue landscape between then and now. Before comparing 1997 with a satellite photo of the neighborhood in 2013, we colored in what we thought were the basic changes. Turns out there were a couple of new ones we didn't know about. Or old ones we'd never noticed.

• orange = no change from 1997 

X red = teardown, replaced with a new, larger house [X with a circle around it is a teardown in progress]

YELLOW = an addition has been added to the original house creating a bigger footprint [2424 and 2428 added on in 1995 or 1996 -- 2410 added on in 2003 or 2004. 

Comparing 1997 to 2013, there are currently five houses with bigger footprints on the north side of Oak Avenue. That includes 2440 [big addition] and 2406 [patio addition].

On the Maple Avenue side, there have been two teardowns/new megahouses with a third in progress. 

You can see there's a huge difference in the footprint for 2417 Maple Avenue. In '97 there was enough backyard to handle plenty of rainwater run off. Now the angle of descent [pitch] has been cut in half. With even more elevation. And a lot more water that needs a place to go. 

1997 MAP

Satellite Map for Comparison

Above is the satellite map for the north side of Oak Avenue 

and the south side of Maple Avenue to compare with the 1997 map. 

            Below is the map for the south side of Oak and the north side of Illinois. 

We can confirm four teardowns replaced by new homes on the south side of Oak. Also three to five homes with additions. [Three for sure.] So seven out of eleven houses have bigger footprints on the south side of Oak. And it may be as many as nine. 

On the Illinois side, there are six teardowns, replaced by new homes. Unfortunately, we don't have anything to compare the landscape change. 

Except for curbs, which turned out to be cosmetic, there have been no upgrades to the storm water system in the neighborhood.  

A Film Noir of Oak Avenue Basement Flooding

After 2007, street flooding was easy compared to what was happening to several backyards on Oak Avenue. Two mega houses had been allowed to raise the grade from two feet to four feet on the properties behind us. After those homes were built, the runoff was so great, it started coming into our homes via the window wells.

Meanwhile, this video is black, because one of the other perils of living on the 2400 block of Oak Avenue during a storm is the high risk of losing the electricity. [Living on Oak Avenue on a bright, sunny day with no wind can also be perilous to your electricity.] 

We recorded some amazing sounds of destruction during the storm that started around midnight on July 11, 2011. At that time, the event was called a microburst.  

Except for a few seconds of weak flashlight trying to shine its light down the basement stairs, you can't see anything. But you can sure hear the water from the completely flooded backyard pouring into the basement. There's nothing quite so shocking as the sound of water rushing into the house. 

"Hello. This is the Mississippi River calling. We want to use your home for a holding tank."  

There was so much water pouring from the backyard that the force of it overwhelmed the window wells like someone just opened the gates of a dam. On this occasion, we were inside taking this video, so you can hear the water rushing into the basement [think Niagara Falls] after the window wells had filled up. Without electricity there was no way to pump water. So we were simply taking deep breaths and thinking zen thoughts. 

You can listen HERE. 

That storm took out the furnace, the washer/dryer and the hot water heater. For the second time. Yes, it also happened earlier. The first time, we naively thought it was a gutter problem and had them rerouted away from any window wells. We even cleverly rerouted the garage gutters well into the backyard. Quelle surprise!!

Meanwhile, here's what was happening in the front yard and on the street [see video screenshot below, caught when the lightning provided some light.] The south side of Oak still had electricity. The caption explains which sidewalk that is. And it's not the one you think. 

That is the walkway from the driveway to the front steps. Not the public sidewalk next to the parkway, which is completely underwater with most of the front yard. It's now after 2:30 A.M. The street water has actually started to recede. But it had crossed the walkway and dragged some debris with it. The water in the lower right corner by the tree is only a few feet from the house. From Cedar to Royal, this is arguably the lowest spot on Oak Avenue. Where would you pump your sump water?

More Water to Come?

Clearly the house below is scheduled for demolition. Those of us downwind on Oak Avenue asked the Village-person-in-charge-of-building-permits whether the grade would be raised. In their email reply, the Village answered several questions we didn't ask, and ignored the one about raising the grade.

Another Oak Avenue resident met with the Village in person and then phoned the Village representative again to make sure that all water from the new roof, any basement sumps, private storm sewers, etc., etc. would be hooked up with the Maple Avenue storm sewers. 

For some reason, the Village mistakenly thought he was mainly concerned with how many bedrooms the new house will have. The Village didn't seem to understand that while size, i.e., footprint matters, it doesn't matter as much as raising the grade. It would seem to be more important to insure that all runoff water has been directed away from the backyards on Oak Avenue toward the storm sewers on Maple. 

Unfortunately, it turns out there's a downspout in the back of the new house [according to what the Village told a resident] which will be pumping water into the backyard. The Village didn't seem to think that would be an issue because it's the only one. ONLY ONE? Have you ever seen how much water comes out of a downspout when it rains? 

Seriously. 

To refresh your memory, here's a Google map that shows the location of the teardown house that will be replaced by a new home -- top row, far left. 

Of the twelve houses shown here on 1/2 of the block, three are teardowns replaced with bigger homes. With a fourth to come. We know for sure that two of the new houses raised the grade. With disastrous results. Three other houses have additions and larger footprints. Five houses are original. And yet, the infrastructure has stayed the same.

Join Us In Our Backyard Pools

Here's a good view of how much the backyards flood in two of the backyards on Oak Avenue. There are more flooded backyards besides the ones you see here. This inundation of an entire yard didn't start until 2007 with the two foot elevation of the grade for two new homes on Maple Avenue.  

Come on in!! All we need is a wave machine. And don't forget, if you get tired of swimming in the backyard, you can float a boat down the street when you go out in front. Or ride the waves made by the cars that usually fly by. These folks [below] must live on Oak, they're driving more carefully. Oak Avenue gets a double whammy -- street flooding and backyard flooding. Triple whammy, if you count the water that fills up the window wells and makes its way into basements when the backyards run out of room. Or via the storm sewers that get so full they start to upchuck via the basement sinks and drains. Not to mention the non stop sumps, pumping for days after the storms. For years, the ground water level has been rising to up close and very personal levels. Good times.

This photo is another from June 26 -- this one after the rain stopped. But there's still plenty of water to go around. 

How Accurate is the Flood Mapping?

We took a screenshot from the H & H report prepared by the consulting engineers. And we have some questions.

What is this flood map based on? None of us on Oak has EVER seen flooding on Maple or Westcott during storms. In fact the water comes racing down Westcott and turns east into Oak Avenue.

And the Oak Avenue flooding as shown on this map isn't nearly as extensive as it is. Not wide enough or deep enough.

But most interesting is the complete lack of backyard flooding indicated on the 2400 block of Oak Avenue. Flooding which fills up backyards and rushes into homes. Flooding which travels down from the houses on Maple. No indication that there's any water at all. None. Zero.

But tons of it apparently occurs in the 2500 block of Oak Avenue. Even so, what's indicated in those backyards cannot compare to what we're getting on our block, since the water we get in our backyards fills up the entire backyard.

Who makes these maps anyway?

Oak Avenue Flooding Project on Hold for Good?

Oak Avenue residents have just received a letter from the Village stating that the Oak Avenue flooding project is on hold, until they can procure an acre and a half piece of land where they can dump the water -- that's not the jargon they used, but that's our translation. 

Westcott Park is just two blocks away. There's plenty of acreage there. 

One of our concerns is that the engineers don't seem to know where the flooding occurs, since the picture on the report is not from the 2400 block of Oak Avenue, but the 2500 block of Oak Avenue, which doesn't get flooded. 

NOTE TO ENGINEERS: Using this picture as the cover of your report is not a good sign. Because this is not where Oak Avenue floods. If you'd ever been out to our street during and after a storm, you would know that the street flooding is behind you on the 2400 block. Along with the ongoing yard flooding. And the escalating basement flooding. For those of us who are still pumping out after last week's flood, we can only assume you are making calculations that determine the future of our block based on inaccurate data. 

 Below is a view of the 2400 block of Oak Avenue -- looking toward the 2500 block -- after the June 26 flood. Look carefully in the distance. Do you see flooding in the 2500 block? The correct answer is NO.   

Meanwhile, here's a link to the report on which the decision to postpone [permanently?] was based:

http://www.northbrook.il.us/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=5974

On first reading, it seems as though the consulting engineers have determined that Westcott Street and Maple Avenues -- which are on higher ground a block away from the Oak Avenue flooded street -- have the most flooding. Based on what? 

Neither street had flooding during the June 26 deluge.  However, plenty of water was observed flowing from Maple and Westcott onto Oak Avenue, east of Westcott. But the only evidence of actual flooding, i.e., a nearly impassible street, was on Oak. Homes on Westcott and Maple do not have a history of flooded yards emptying into basements, except for two houses with Westcott addresses which are also on the 2400 block of Oak Avenue. They suffered during the 1990s episode, when the Village raised the grade on new construction and caused weeks of flooding to eight back yards. In fact, historically, there is almost no street flooding on Oak Avenue except in the 2400 block. 

Do any of these consultants actually walk our neighborhoods during a flood? Or do they just crunch numbers?