Hurricane Ike started as a tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean on September 1st. By September 3rd, it had turned into a category 1 hurricane. It reached Texas on September 13th as a category 2 hurricane, and its affects swept across many states.
In Illinois we received heavy rain that continued for days. This caused flooding in many local areas. Westchester, LaGrange, and Berwyn saw small amounts of flooding. The areas that were affected the most were Riverside and Brookfield.
In Riverside, flooding got so bad that residents were forced to evacuate their homes. Over the weekend, these residents were allowed to stay at the Village Hall until they could find somewhere else to stay. Many streets had to be blocked off. The Des Plaines River began to rise early Saturday, causing even more flooding and giving no place for the water to go.
Due to all this flooding, the Brookfield Zoo closed for the first time in 74 years. It had begun to flood and some animals had to be moved out if their exhibits. The water caused damage to the basements of some of the animal buildings.
RB was affected by the flooding as well. The school was flooded and lost electricity. There were many blocked off roads, including First Avenue, which made it hard to even get to school. Over a million gallons of water had to be pumped out of the basement. Between the flooding, loss of electricity, clean up and sanitation, and air quality testing and mold evaluation, school had to be closed the entire week of September 15th. The weight room and girls’ and boys’ locker rooms received the most damage.
--Submitted by Lauren Gestes, Staff Reporter |
