weird

[Boxcar]

Okay... So, this is weird.

It is soooo quiet here.

Not your average quiet. It is SUPER quiet.

Should I explain?

I live by an expressway. Due to flooding in my area, this expressway and the surrounding roads have been closed.

So, I have no traffic noise. I never realized I had traffic noise until it was gone. Now, it is shockingly still. You can hear every sound of nature, every thought, and every sound from far away. SOmetimes, it is quiet on early Sunday mornings. However, this is much more intense and extreme.

I didn't even realize how loud it was until it was gone. Have you ever experienced something like this?

[nancy sv]

That would be weird - I can't imagine.

We kind of experienced something like that as we cycled through the Yukon and northern British Columbia on the Alaska Highway. That area is HUGE!! I mean - HUGE!!! We would go 300 miles between grocery stores on a regular basis!!

Each night we pulled off the road and camped in the wilderness with the moose and bears. It was a very strange feeling to be simply a part of the food chain!

[Just ducky]

Boxcar,
I feel horrible that I have not paid enough attention to my own state in all of the recent storm news. How much damage do you all have? I did realize yesterday that there were problems when I read the morning newspaper. However, what was the worry there? It is ISTEP week and the weather cancellations put a little twist in test-taking. Something tells me that that is not a major concern of someone whose house is sitting under water!!!

I do find it almost surreal, though, how we don't notice things until there is a change around us. Mine was the reverse of the quiet.... I live near Grissom Air Reserve Base which houses the refueling wing. Once I moved here---it was an active AF base at the time--- and acclimated to planes overhead all the time, I got to the point I did not even hear them. That was until 9-11. After that, I think every plane just echoed in my house for several months. I remember talking to my parents one day and making that comment. It is so hard to believe that something that had become such a normal part of everyday life was suddenly back to the point that it would awaken me at odd hours.

Hopefully it will return to its noisy self for you soon; if it hasn't already. It is so hard to fathom the number of floods that we have experienced in the state over the past few years (and in the country). I sure don't remember the talk of those possibilities, even, as I grew up.

[Boxcar]

Don't feel bad about not knowing. To be honest, the communication hasn't been that great throughout this whole ordeal. Most people are relying on one radio station (WJOB) and NWI Times Online.

There seems to be not good communication between the people and governments involved. So many places lie along the river, and state and local governemtns have different ideas. I'll tell about that later.

Here is my understanding of what has been going on:

We had rain continuously for almost a week. It picked up Friday through Sunday. Oddly, there was no lightning or thumder. It was just a steady downpour. (They are calling this one of our 100 Year Floods.) The lack of storm "accessories" made the rain not seem that bad. It kind of was just a backdrop until things started to go bad.

Almost every town/city in this area got some type of flooding. That was about 17 place total, I believe. Some people jgot water in basements and road hassles. Others were hit harder.

The Little Calumet became and still is the major problem.

There is a spot where the Little Cal. divides Munster and Hammond. Hammond began sandbagging and reinforcing thier levees early on Saturday. Munster, on the other hand, lies lower than Hammond. They did not start the reinforcement process as early as Hammond. Additnonally, the Army Corps of Engineers had not gotten to that part of thier river re-construction project. So, Munster had a vulnerablity even if they had be dumping sand and gravel early.

So, the Little Cal. is way past flood stage. Neighboorhoods are being evacuated in both Hammond and Munster. This is on Sunday. Late Sunday afternoon, the levee on the Munster side is breeched. Water gushes into the Munster area and submerges homes and businesses. The Hammond Clinic and Munster Med-Inn are affected. At around the same time as the breech, the pump station goes down. A short in the wiring causes the pumps to stop. Water rushes into that building and causes the roof to explode.

On Monday, more water comes into Munster. Other areas and roads are pumping into the river and more flooding occurs. Also, draining of tributeries is occuring.

Tuesday, Griffith and Highland are in danger. They come out of it this morning relatively okay. Again, communication is terrible. So, I don't know eveything.

This morning, I've not been able to listen to the radio as much. I've heard bit though. The finger-pointing has started.

I don't know about ISTEPs. Munster is still out of school. There were other school closing yesterday. Lots of schools were closed on Monday. To be honest, that was the least of most of our worries.

I'll come back with more later as I learn it. Like I said, the lack of information is frustration.

[Just ducky]

Wow!! Like I said, to think that I live mid state and had no idea. I think all eyes were on Texas with Ike. I had a friend that had watched the Notre Dame game and said that it was a downpour, but that was about all that was said.

It just seems like there has been so much flooding in the Midwest over the past several years. When Kokomo had the flood a few years ago it was such a fluke thing and the as you said the finger pointing has to start. I am sure that this will get ugly in that area.

I cannot imagine that ISTEP would be of any concern to the citizens right now, but I am sure that there are some administrators sweating out what the consequences could be. So sad that this has all come to that. Like I said, that was one of the main comments in the article that I read. Of course, ISTEP does have the narrow window that goes with it, so that wasn't as big of a deal as the GQE. How dare mother nature interfere with the governmental powers that be when it comes time for THE graduation test. (In all seriousness I am sure that something will be worked out, but I am sure that there are major hurdles being jumped to get there.)

[KtoJob]

That's how I feel when i work late at night. Everything seems to stop and get quiet. I seem to work a lot faster though, so I guess it's good.

[MissTeach]

Wow Boxcar, what an ordeal. Is the flooding what caused you smile to turn upside down?

[Boxcar]

Its hard. I'm not even sure what I feel.

A lot of things have happened since my last post to this thread.

On Wednesday night, there was an enormous explosion in Munster. At the time, it wasn't scary. Afterwards, it was. What happened was that the power and gas had not been turned off to the houses in the flooded areas. The force of the water shifted a house of its foundation breaking a gas line. The natural gas exploded. The house was leveled. Emergency workers could not reach the scene until they got a boat. The thing is, one explosion could have potentially set off a chain of reactions. Additionally, there is a gas station in the impacted area. If that exploded or caught fire, the results would be catostrophic.

Fortuantely, the water receeded. Now, it is time to clean up. As much as there is frustration and blame running in undercurrents in some places, the communities are pulling together. People from all over the Region are helping one another.

Of course, you get the animosity between Hammond and Munster from some individuals. I have heard that because Hammond built up thier levees they forced the water into Mnuster. I haven't heard a lot of this, however. Mostly, it is a wonderful uniting of communities.

I'm not sure how long this will last, but it is nice.

Munster schools did go back into session on Friday. I did hear it was becasue of ISTEP and GQE. Those without homes were moved to another location, and the students started back at classes.

This was the same day that house inspections and taggings were going on. If I was one of those students, I would have been very angry to have to return to school. I would have wanted to see my house and start clean up if I had a green tag. There is a short window before mold and mildew set in and destrroy even more of what the flood didn't take. I would have wanted to be there helping my family.

Munster had thier homecoming game and dance on Friday night. Munster won which was great! Dresses and other things were donated or loaned to the children who didn't have them.

Even as the water went down in Munster, other areas were flooding. Gary had to be evacuated by boat.

Hopefully, things will be better soon for those who lost just everything. It isn't enough or even fair to say "Well, at least you're alive." Memories are part of living, and these individuals have lost priceless things. Not only memories, but also security and other things. My heart breaks for them. I cannot imagine if the coin had flipped, and Hammond had flooded instead of Munster. Please include these people in your thoughts and prayers.

It isn't quiet here anymore. At first, the noise return in the form of pumps. Then, the traffic came back. Of course, I'm already used to it again. Weird.