Hurricane Ike And The Little Calumet River Flood, Vol. 2

A day of turmoil and calamity leaves you worn to the bone. Trying to go to sleep, your mind races with visions and feelings for the day. Taking someone elses bed for the night out of desperation leaves you anxious and frustrated. Wondering how bad it will turn out causes worry. Below is a slide show of visions that danced in my head as I lay in a friends bed, thinking what a nightmare it has been. The surealistic emotion is daunting to say the least. Click on the red arrows to advance the images.

Six weeks ago a group of us were talking and one of my friends asked me if I had noticed the local wildlife was acting unusual. I had not payed too close of attention was my answer. We are both avid gardeners and gardening has a way of bring us closer to Mother Nature. My friend suggested maybe we were in for a rough winter. He had noted the birds and the squirrels were unusually busy as if winter might come calling, colder and sooner than the average. I told him I was honestly not working my garden like I would normally do because I had fallen behind with all that I have going on. I was just too busy to tend the garden this year.

I remember him saying he did not know what it was but something was stirring and it concerned him. He had the feeling something bad was about to happen. He also said that all we could do was to wait and see. I agreed and really did not think too much more about it. Several days before the flooding occurred our local weather was forecasting the possibility of heavy rain that could take a toll on our area.

This forecast was directly related to the landfall of Hurricane Ike. They suggested that rain could make it's way as far north as Chicago and cause flooding. The strange thing about the forecast was that my town was singled out in that weather report. The announcement caught the attention of both my housemate and myself. We had both grown up in this area and had never remembered our town being mentioned in particular, especially in reference to flooding. We had both experienced flooding a couple of times as kids but, those problems were supposedly remedied. Sure water would pond in very low areas and some back up would be expected but danger of breaching levies was not a consideration.

Just across the river the city of Hammond had done all that they deemed necessary to avoid the wake of flooding if it were to occur. Later reports were given that our Town Council Of Munster had ignored suggestions and warnings of concern when calls from Hammond Indiana Officials were made several days prior to the flood. The Town did not listen or pay heed to the timely concern. As a result, Hammond was ready and waiting and suffered minimal damage compared to Munster. The Town Of Munster dropped the ball at the expense of it"s residents property loss, health and safety.

Sleep came with nightmares. They were the same dreams over and over, like a broken record. I would doze off only to wake in a frenzy, realize I was dreaming and force myself back to sleep. Chaos ruled in my dreams and it was every man for himself. The town was in rubble and the utilities no longer worked. People were in hiding and there was no way to tell if someone was friend or foe. It was wild in the streets and the life we knew yesterday no longer existed, in the wink of an eye. Thank God it was only dreams.

Stay tuned for vol. 3, to be continued..