Where did all the water come from?

by Lynn Meredith

            When the rains that raised havoc all over the area were almost over on Sept. 14, Virgil Highway Commissioner Larry Peterson watched water trickling through the gravel on Freeland Road in a low spot between Beith Road and Route 38. It didn't seem to be a problem.

            By Wednesday, a Kane County Sheriff's Department officer called and said he needed to put barricades across the road because it was flooded. When he went there, he found a 14-inch deep, two football-fields-long flood covering 200 to 300 acres and immersing the road. A resident with health problems had to be rescued by boat.

            “It's an issue for the road, but we're also helping the people,” Peterson said. “At least we need to get it so they can get a fire truck or ambulance in there if need be.”

            The mystery is where the water came from. Peterson could only speculate on its origins. Until the Illinois and Federal Emergency Maintanence Agencies (IEMA and FEMA) can look into the problem, the cause of the flooding remains unclear. 

            “We've been pumping 210,000 gallons an hour around the clock since last Friday. That's like filling a tanker the size of Stover's every hour and a half. I estimated we pumped 14 million gallons by Tuesday. Then I stopped counting,” Peterson said.

            In the meantime, Virgil village officials met on Sept. 26 in an emergency session to declare the area an emergency disaster.

            “In order to get an emergency fix, we have to have an emergency meeting and declare the situation an emergency,” Virgil Trustee Judy Probst said. “The situation is that we have a disaster.”

            Peterson met with FEMA officials on Monday. In order to recoup 75 percent of the costs of putting things back the way they were, FEMA has to designate it a federal disaster. Even then, the federal agency would only pay for the cost of pumping the water, replacing some gravel and the labor. The agency is still looking into making that declaration.

            As to paying for the problems that caused the flooding, it's a no-go, Peterson said. To repair the situation, the road must be raised and a culvert installed. Tiles in the fields need to be fixed.

            “As far as resolving the problem, they pay nothing,” Peterson said. “I told them that I understand they have their rules and regulations, but does it make sense if we have another big rain to pay for the damage all over again? For the cost of two pumpings, we could solve the problem.”

            Virgil has approximately $60,000 from the $96,000 the village brings in from tax revenues to use for its roads.  The bid to repair the road is $86,000.

            Both IEMA and FEMA have Public Assistance Program grants available to local governments experiencing a disaster. The grants will pay not less than 75 percent of eligible costs for emergency measures. With only the pumping being covered, Virgil is not sure they can afford to pay the remainder.

            “It's called off for now. This price is coming in at $35,000 higher than what the county told us,” Peterson said. “We're not forgetting about it. We just can't do anything about it now.”

            Peterson has approached the Storm Management office in Kane County to see if it would cost-share the project, but so far they have not shown interest.

            “I've got it in my head that somehow I'm going to get this fixed,” Peterson said.

            The road opened on Monday. It was closed for 10 days.

10/03/2008