Rain, rain, go away

In thirty years of living in Chicago, I have now lived through two "great floods". The first one was in 1991, and it was actually the result of a boat crashing into the side of the Chicago River, allowing water to flow into basements all through downtown, and flooding out the subways.

This one is caused by Mother Nature herself, dumping record rainfalls on our fair city over the past couple of days. A friend and I went out and took some pictures...

... of the river threatening to crest its banks and flood the auditorium at North Park University,

... of Anderson Hall, which along with the Campus Center at NPU, is evacuated and closed,

... of the sandbags keeping the waters on Carmen Ave from flooding onto Kimball Ave,

... and of Foster Ave at Pulaski, where the entire street and much of Gompers Park lie covered by water and news crews.

We always think of Chicago as a flat plain. You realize, when checking for standing water, that the City definitely does have its higher and lower ground. (I'm very thankful I live at one of the high points.)

It's very scary to see water entering your home, and there's not a thing you can do about it. I've lived through that, and hope to God I never have to again. I just pray for all the people affected by this flood, that they can dry out and clean up quickly. And for my alma mater, I pray that its buildings will not be damaged to the breaking point.