Before and after the flood

Walkway, before


Walkway, after


Waterfall, before


Waterfall, after



The "before" pictures were taken during our wedding rehearsal, which took place at Warren Woods. The walkway is now pretty much underwater (the river has risen since these flood pictures were taken) and the waterfall is gone. In its place is a solid sheet of rushing river water.

(Photos taken with my iPhone)

Images of devestation

View of Warrenville Road and the DuPage River, about to flow over the bridge's sides


Our former neighbor Jeff's house, flooded with 2 feet of water (our old house is in the background)


Path to Warren Woods near our old house


View of our old house, back sun room flooded, and actual DuPage river in background (by tree line)


Side view of our old landlord's garage and our old house's front steps


View of back yard, our old house on the left, Jeff's house on the right, landlord's sailboat floating on flood waters, DuPage River by tree line in background


View of our old house, flood waters filling basement chest high


View of our old house's front steps, Jeff's house in background


Pete looking at flooding of our landlord's house


View of Jeff's house from the gravel lot where we used to park our cars


Flooded Phillips 66 Station on Warrenville Road (where we get our coffee every morning)


On foot bridge in Warren Woods, river already up to the underside of the bridge


Pete and group of people looking at the DuPage River, flooding walkway


The waterfall—gone


Looking north down DuPage River


Waterfall location—note red "No Swimming" sign in background


River flowing right under footpath



Things are really bad here in Warrenville. These pictures were taken around 1:30-2:00 today. Since then, the river has risen several more feet and someone has died, pulled from the river near the Little Red Schoolhouse Antique Shop. Thank God it has finally stopped raining, but the devastation lingers.

(Photos taken with my iPhone)

Under water

I'm nervous. The flooding is getting really bad around here. Pete just went for a walk with the dogs, and he said Warrenville Road is partially flooded. The Towne Tap's basement is already flooded and the water is creeping up steadily, so the benefit is being moved to the VFW. Our old neighbor Jeff's house is completely flooded, toast, totally ruined. We lived just 100 feet from him, although our living quarters were up much higher. The Phillips station where we get our morning coffee has two feet of water already, and various roads are being shut down.

This house is not doing much better. Our basement has already flooded, as has all the basements of my relatives. Our entryway wall was weeping yesterday, and we can't completely close the front door anymore, since it's swollen to the point of being unusable. So far the dining room ceiling is okay, but we've had trouble with that spot during past rainstorms that were nothing compared to this one, which are the remnants of Ike.

The radar shows a large swath of rain still moving toward us, full of bright yellow and dark green. I let our landlord know what's going on, and I'm sure he'll be miserable from the news. The dogs had fun running amok outside with Pete, but we just gave them flea baths yesterday, so their medicated therapy has been washed away. Even Max, the eternal outdoor cat, has been pacing restlessly, emerging from time to time from the soggy basement, unsure of whether to mew for his freedom or head to higher ground.

I can only hope we stay as warm and dry as possible here, that the broken wall stays intact, and that nothing too precious among the soaked cardboard boxes has been ruined. Tomorrow we'll leave early for work in case we have difficulty getting out of our neighborhood, which is a very real possibility. I can't stop the jitters or the sense of anxiety I'm feeling, but I take comfort in the fact that we DON'T own this house at the moment and that everything is okay for now, knock on wood.

Soggy Saturday

We've gotten over six inches of rain so far since last night (this map is already innacurate). Things are flooding like crazy around here, including our basement. My mom said the Rosatti's Pizza restaurant by her house is shut down from flooding, and my parents have a lake in their backyard. I hope we don't have trouble getting downtown tonight for dinner. I think the Edens reopened, but you can read more about it here. It's all courtesy of Ike.

(Image courtesy AccuWeather.com)