Plum River Flooding Update: Obama Declares A Federal Disaster Area

By Mick Parsons for The Prairie Advocate

Weeks after the flooding, some relief is finally kicking in. This past week President Obama declared the twelve northern Illinois counties affected by the rains a Federal Disaster Area; the most immediate forms of help will be Individual Assistance (IA) to homeowners who were impacted, as well as Hazard Mitigation. Public Assistance (PA) which would help with public infrastructure issues, is still being considered. “As a result of this action today,” said U.S. Representative Don Manzullo in a press release, “the people of northern Illinois who were impacted by massive July flooding will now be able to apply for federal assistance so they can recover and thrive again.”

The general consensus about the flooding is that there is no real consensus about what really happened. Everyone agrees that 15 inches of rain in 48 hours fell, and that the rains, in conjunction with already high water levels because of summer rain, led to flooding. Local, State, and Federal authorities responded as quickly as they could, and as a result of them and the help of many friends and neighbors, there was no loss of life. But some people lost everything else. Some lower lying areas were completely flooded out; some people’s homes were completely destroyed by the water, while others experienced major flooding in their basements and first floors. The most minor cases – and the term is relative – of damage were from seepage: there was no flooding, but the ground under the houses became so saturated that it started to seep into the foundations, basements, and first floors of some homes.

After this, however, the record is muddled with accusations, theories, threats of lawsuits, and good old fashioned blame laying and passing the buck. Some people blame the damage from the Plum River flooding on private landowners, or the railroad. Some people have suggested that the dam at Lake Carroll is to blame – going as far to suggest, without anything more than a guess, that the dam was about to break or that, in order to save the golf course, the equestrian riding area, and some of the not so cheap homes and boats around Lake Carroll, that the administrators decided to open flood gates.

This sort of blame game is natural in the face of a disaster. It’s normal human behavior to want to blame a person that can be seen, touched, and in some cases, dragged into court. Litigious emails, letters, and phone calls are par for the course. Emotions are running high. But after the emotions subside, what we are left with are the facts.

The Breach

When northwest Illinois was deluged with 15 inches of rain in less than 48 hours, the Plum River swelled. One area with more pronounced damage was the IL -84 Viaduct in Savanna, which was temporarily closed when water overflowed and then breached a railroad berm on property belonging to Savanna resident Scott Parker. The berm, which dates from the 1930’s, was not designed to hold back water, and the sheer force of the water coming down the Plum River was more than the structure could handle.

When reached and asked to comment in this situation, Mr. Parker neither confirmed nor denied that he owned the property and, after threatening to sue this reporter if his “name is in the paper” went on to suggest that the media, “outsiders,” his neighbors, and various others were out to blame him for flood damage. The breached berm – which was repaired by Ritchie Excavation with more than a dozen tandem trucks of fill, the bill being footed by Canadian Pacific Railway – didn’t breach 75 feet as earlier reported. The breach was more like 20 feet. And while Parker continued, over the phone, to deny the existence of the breach – insisting that the water simply “went over” the berm – the railroad did actually confirm that the berm breached. Mike LoVecchio, Senior Manager for Media Relations with Canadian Pacific admitted in a press statement, “With the permission of the landowner, the CP repaired the breach at our expense in order to stop water from filling our yard.”

It would be nice to stop there; my personal inclinations ARE to stop there. My opinion on Scott Parker aside, and in spite of how clearly litigious he is and how defensive he was when asked simply to verify information received from the Carroll County Geological Information Survey, there is one simple fact that can’t be denied. A berm is not a levee.

When you live in a flood plain, you expect floods, and nearly everyone I’ve talked to has also said that in one way or another. Those homeowners who could afford it bought flood insurance – though some of them are having difficulty collecting in spite of faithfully paying their premiums over the years. One of the hitches, around Savanna for example, is that in October 1986 the city of Savanna opted out of the National Flood Plain Protection Act. That meant a couple of things. For one, it meant that while property owners could still buy flood insurance, not living in a recognized (by the federal government) flood plain meant that the insurance companies aren’t required to pay out. Insurance companies – whether they sell flood insurance, home or renters insurance, or car insurance – exist to make money for their shareholders. Some companies are better than others; but because Savanna opted out of the National Program, people who paid their premiums may not see any return.

The Dam

Amongst the various cause and effect scenarios I’ve heard, one that seems to have serious legs is that the dam at Lake Carroll either broke or was going to break, or that the flooding down stream was the result of some negligence by the Lake Carroll Association. It’s been suggested that they decided to “open a flood gate” which caused an increase in the amount of water heading down stream, which in turn caused the Parker’s Berm to breach, which caused the damage to railroad tracks, homes, and the Il-84 viaduct.

That explanation is pretty neat and tidy, too. And on the surface, it makes me feel better. Lake Carroll is a private lake with boats I can’t buy surrounded by houses that cost more than I can afford. A lot of people can’t buy those boats or afford those houses. And while there was damage to the lake – according to Lake Carroll Association General Manager Wayne Ugorek, it may top six figures – there was minimal damage to the houses around the lake. On the outside of it, that’s a nice explanation that covers everything. Selfish rich folks worrying about their golf course flooding did it. Sure.

Except there’s one problem. The Lake Carroll Association couldn’t have opened a flood gate. There is no flood gate to open.

The Leroy Hill Dam is not a dam like, say, the Hoover dam. It’s an earthen, flow through dam designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; but because it’s a private lake and a private dam, the Corps is not obligated to maintain or inspect the dam on a regular basis. Ugorek and Lake Association Board President Norm Hoffman say that the dam is inspected every year, however, to ensure that the dam continues to hold. While there is no “flood gate” as one might expect, the dam does have a spillway – a 20 foot cement spillway made at an incline. Water flows into the man-made lake from several inlets, and levels are maintained by a spillway that drains back into the Plum River.

Water levels at the dam rose five and half feet above pool – the term for absolute capacity. As per the design of the dam, excess water flowed out of the spillway and into the Plum River; there was so much water that the back up spillway – which is really nothing more than a small parking lot next to the marina that’s designed so that water will pour into the Plum River – was under several feet of water.

According to Ugorek, rumors that the dam failed or was in the process of failing are incorrect; when water levels reach the level they did, the Lake Carroll Association put their Emergency Action Plan into motion. This plan, developed in conjunction with the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office and other county officials, calls for people under the dam to be notified, along with police, fire, and emergency responders. That the dam held, Ugorek claims, means that the potential for an even worse flash flood was avoided. The plan is comprehensive enough, and it serves the purpose it was intended to serve. It preserved the lake, the dam, and the properties around the lake and in the area that would be most directly impacted should the dam fail.

It’s inevitable that the excess water pouring out of the spillway and into the Plum River, along with the rain, contributed to the flow of water that over took and breached Parker’s Berm. The dam held. And while I’d like to say I found proof that Lake Carroll’s handling of the flood contributed unnecessarily to the flood damage further down river, I didn’t.

I did spend a good hour and half riding around the Lake with Ugorek and Hoffman; they showed me the dam, the piezometers they use to monitor dam solvency, and the major inlets that feed the lake. Some concerns about the dam are being fed, I’m sure, by the recent failure of the dam at Lake Delhi in Iowa, which is the same type of dam as the one at Lake Carroll. I also inquired as to the Lake Association’s relationship with surrounding communities because – sometimes – it seemed to me that many of the rumors running around about the nature of the flood and who might be to blame focus on who’s got money. Again – in the spirit of full disclosure – I was sort of hoping that somebody could be blamed. Ugorek assured me, though, that the lake community maintains good relationships with surrounding communities; or at least, with the leaders and officials of surrounding counties. Any other potential animosities, Ugorek said, pre-date his relationship with Lake Carroll. And that was all I could get anybody to say on the record.

Wrapping it Up

The thing that struck me, and continues to roll around in my mind as I hear all the numbers being tossed around and see the damage and hear the stories, is that the impact of private property on public and other people’s property is such that maybe more ought to be done so that future damage – which is inevitable –can be minimized and people’s lives and property can be better protected.

With federal assistance on the near horizon, the next step is a more thorough inspection of damaged areas, several metric tons of paper work, and the slow process of moving forward. The Plum River flooding, Parker’s Berm, and Lake Carroll are only small parts of a larger issue. There’s a certain renewed optimism with the reopening of the Viaduct (“IL Rt. 84 Bridge in Savanna, IL Re-opens” video on PA website), and most of the water has receded. The last time I drove by Doty road, the water was still high, but that’s as much a drainage issue (Page 3, August 18 2010 edition) as a flood issue. Public officials on the Carroll County Highway Committee, the various Local Emergency Management Agencies, IEMA, city councils, and others are looking at how to finish repairs and help people return to more or less normal lives. Everyone who had a plan – from the Lake Carroll Association, to the Carroll County Sheriff’s Department, and the other local agencies – followed their plans. And the general impression I’ve gotten from them is that everything – on that end, at least – worked out.

But the repairs to Parker’s Berm – paid for entirely by the Canadian Pacific Railway – are only sufficient in that the trains are able to keep moving instead of sitting and costing CPR around a million dollars a day in profit losses. The dam at Lake Carroll is still holding; but given that the only place for extra water to go – this time around a billion gallons by some estimates – is still the Plum River. Savanna opting back into the National Flood Plain Protection Act will offer an added measure of security; but that also assumes that everyone who lives along a floodplain can actually afford the insurance. And this, quite honestly, is not the case.

Because the people who live in this area are fiercely independent, there are natural concerns and misgivings about the amount of government intrusion on private property; but when a disaster hits, the first thing people expect – fiercely independent or not – is government assistance. And they are right to expect it. But until something is done to make sure that berms aren’t being used as levees and that in the event of another flood – which is inevitable, whether it’s five or ten or fifty or one hundred years from now – the best we can do is continue to hope that the response plans are solid, that the dam will hold, and that the Plum River will stay within it’s boundaries. In the mean time, the religious will pray and the litigious will sue, and the region will rebuild itself more quickly with federal assistance. And life will move on… more quickly for some than for others.