Wind Knocks Out Power • Knocks Over Trees

Water wasn't much of an issue during the September 5, 2014 storm that raced through Northbrook in the late afternoon. Led by fierce, 80 mph winds that ripped through town in minutes, the fast-moving storm toppled large trees, knocked down power lines, and left a huge mess. Almost every block was littered with piles of tree branches, nature's way of pruning the dead wood. Along with a history of water issues, Oak Avenue also has a history of Com Ed power outages. So, as expected, many homes in the neighborhood were without power for almost 24 hours. In the aftermath, instead of the sounds of silence during the night, there were sounds of generators trying to keep refrigerators and freezers filled with food from spoiling. For the uninitiated, big generators sound like a truck idling in your driveway with the pedal to the medal. Small ones sound like a lawnmower engine revving under your window. For eight hours. 

BELOW: Neighbors get out their power saws to remove a downed tree in the 2300 block of Oak Avenue

This tree on Walters took a severe beating when the storm came through.

 In the 2400 block of Oak Avenue, the water didn't become an issue. By ordinary storm standards, this amount was easy peasy.

First Flood of Spring -- May 13, 2014

Six months since our last post -- a tough, snowy, cold, but rainfree winter -- and now it's time for the Oak Avenue Spring Floods!! It's either been 91 and humid or 48 and windy this spring. All in the same day sometimes. Mostly cold, however. It was so cold for so long the flowers and trees bloomed and foliated almost overnight. They knew it was May and time to get cracking. 

Last night's storm was a series of intermittent rain dumps, followed by brief respites of calm. So, yeah, the backyards flooded. And the pumps were out in force this morning. A new guy in the neighborhood got water in his basement, so he's p.o.'d. Turns out people aren't very forthcoming around here re: water getting into the house. "We had some once, but that was the only time." Liar liars. 

We checked the rainfall levels and found there was 3.19 inches for Glenview, the closest town listed. And it wasn't a slow and steady rain, but a short, nasty load of wetness that unloaded several times. 

And wait until you see the size of the house we watched going up last fall. The one that's sure to create even more water in our yards/window wells/basements. It's big. Really big. A footprint the size of Sasquatch. Watch. There will be some major water coming our way, whooshing down the hill from that place. 

We ought to make an Oak Avenue Floods logo out of this pump. It's been working overtime since early early this morning. It was past 3:00 PM when we shot this photo. 

When French drains go bad -- this six foot pond is over one foot deep and keeps getting larger and larger as the years go by. This is all that's left of a 20' x 20' patch of flooding -- thanks to the runoff from the giant houses above and behind our yards. 

Rain Harvesting and How To Do It -- a FREE Workshop

June 26, 2013 turned out to be the last day of significant flooding this year -- knock on wood. Having said that, we hear there's a warm up coming this weekend [11/22-11/27/13], which could encourage Mother Nature to wake from her slumber and unleash one final year end deluge. Nah. She wouldn't do that. . .

Meanwhile, as a public service, we're passing along this invitation from the Chicago Sustainable Backyards Program to Oak Avenue residents who would like to do something more with the water coming off their roofs -- besides sending it into their neighbors' yards and overwhelming the sewers. If you also have a flooded front yard AND backyard, this may not solve ALL your problems. But it's a start. Meanwhile, to get you started, our Village is selling $100 rain barrels for $25 to Northbrook residents -- limit two. Click HERE.

A Couple of Trips Down Memory Lane

1) Below is a 1996 photograph of the standing water at 2432 Oak Avenue. What you see is just one of eight backyards that began flooding on the north side of Oak Avenue after the village allowed the grade to be raised at 2428 Oak Avenue [R]. The grade was raised to construct the new garage in the picture and a long cement [impermeable] driveway. In this picture, the garage at 2428 is approximately one foot higher than the yard at 2432. The water is almost a foot deep in this picture. And the yard didn't drain for days. That's why the owner took the picture. 

Since this photo, the house with this backyard at 2432 has been torn down for a larger house with a bigger footprint. The grade was raised to the same level as the garage and driveway at 2428. 

2) Even though we took this picture [below], we're not sure what the date was. Sometime in the eighties, we believe. The original reason for taking the picture was to honor the beautiful elm tree that would be sacrificed at the altar of ending street flooding by adding curbs. 

Turns out the new curbs were a purely cosmetic change, despite what one resident, a longtime member of the Planning Commission, led us to believe. The street flooding continues to this day. 

The reason for posting this picture now is to point out why many people on Oak Avenue thought that the sewers had been improved when the curbs were added. Au contraire, mon ami, those pipes are only the intake pipes for the street grates. Not anything related to improving the sewers. 

The tree is gone, replaced with an oak. The three bedroom house with a one car garage in the picture was torn down, replaced with a McMonster. 

Go Green Northbrook

A new, eco-conscious group called Go Green Northbrook has formed under the direction of Northbrook resident, Doug Gerleman. 

According to the August 22, 2013 issue of The Northbrook Tower, the Go Green group formed during April's Earth Day event in downtown Northbrook. They have since attended the July 18 meeting of the Village's Environmental Quality commission to introduce themselves. EQC welcomed the new group and agreed to create an ongoing working relationship. 

In conjunction with Go Green reps from fourteen other North Shore suburbs, Go Green Northbrook might tackle the use of plastic bags in the area, making a push for the use of non-disposable shopping bags. Sunset, Whole Foods, and other neighborhood chains already have non-disposable bags for sale. Sunset also accepts plastic bags for recycling. 

Also on the agenda includes the construction of a recreational trail for bicycles or walkers by the North Branch of the Chicago River, near Willow Festival between Techny and Willow roads. 

Perhaps the most relevant initiative to Oak Avenue Flooding victims is the construction of more rain gardens in Northbrook to help curb flooding issues. The major issue with rain gardens is how to insure that future property owners will continue to maintain them. 

According to Gerleman, the local of group of fifty-eight residents is setting up a Facebook page to keep residents up to date with Go Green Northbrook projects, as well as recruit more volunteers. 

Go Green Northbrook meets once a month. For more information, contact Doug Gerleman at gerlemand@comcast.net.

Bracing for the Rain

Here's what the forecast looks like for tonight, although some thunderstorms have already started pounding the area. Naturally, we're curious about how long they will last. We're also curious what kind of runoff there will be from the new construction. It's 5:50 PM. 

August Construction Continues On the House That Will Add To Future Flooding

After the basement had been dug out, there was a huge pile of dirt in the front and the back of the house. The first two pictures are from the day after all that dirt was smoothed down by one of those pocket-sized, earth mover tractors. 

The last two pictures are from a day or two after all the dirt had been leveled. A big shovel came in and dug a bunch of dirt up again to hook up the house pipes to the sewer lines. That may include the sump pumps as well as the catch basin or private drainage pipes. If anybody has a better handle on what those pipelines are for, feel free to 'splain.