The North Park flood

This past weekend, our neighborhood received somewhere from seven to nine inches of rain, which severely flooded many areas near us, as well as the campus of our alma mater, North Park University.

Though I know these photos won't mean much to those of you unfamiliar with the campus, I wanted to post them for those who know what these scenes looked like before the rains came. They were taken around 3 p.m. yesterday afternoon.

Facing south on the west side of the river

Facing northeast from the west side of the river.
There are usually six to eight feet between the

bottom of the bridge and the river.

Water spills through the barriers

The north side of Magnuson Campus Center

The parking lot of Anderson Hall

Peering over the sandbags as the river rises toward Carmen Avenue

The river meets the walking path to the south entrance of the LHA.

On the Kedzie bridge, facing west.
There are usually two to three feet of space between the
low-hanging cement slabs and the river.

The river has already begun to recede, which is great news. Three of the dorms had to be evacuated due to loss of power, but they are slowly regaining services. The basement of the campus center building (which houses the boilers and air conditioning units, etc.) is completely filled with water; after a full day of pumping it out today, only a foot and a half of water has been removed.

While much damage has certainly occurred, we are grateful that no one was injured. Additionally, David and I are fortunate to live just far enough away that our building was unaffected.

It seems that the rain has stopped - something else to be thankful for. My thoughts and prayers go out to those who have been evacuated from their homes and who have lost their possessions as a result.