High water: There was high water on a number of area roads today after the overnight rain overwhelmed creeks and drainage ditches. Here a car navigates 1100N east of Fifth St., where a flooded Pope O’Connor Ditch has created a problem for motorists. (More flooding photos are on the back page.) (Tribune photo by Margaret L. Willis)

Westchester South entrance closed: The northern entrance to Westchester South was closed this morning, after overnight rain overwhelmed the storm sewer system there.

 (Tribune photo by Margaret L. Willis)

County road 1300 N closed: Evaluating roads for school bus access this morning, Jim Bonfield, Duneland School Corporation Director of Transportation, found this scene. Overnight rain had flooded the roadway completely. County workers are shown setting up barricades to close off flooded 1300N, at 450E. The scene is looking toward the west on 1300N. (Photo by Jim Bonfield)

By KEVIN NEVERS

In a quarter of a century Chesterton Street Commissioner John Schnadenberg has not seen flooding in town like that which this morning was forcing road closures, swamping basements, and overwhelming the wastewater treatment plant.

“It’s bad,” Schnadenberg told the Chesterton Tribune. “I haven’t seen anything like it in 25 years.”

Rising waters in the Pope O’Connor Ditch in the area of C.R. 1100N and Fifth Street and in the Coffee Creek beneath the bridge east of WiseWay Foods could prompt the Street Department to close C.R. 1100N. Meanwhile, rear yards in the Tanglewood subdivision—whose rear-yard drains are probably blocked by leaves—were flooding and filling some basements, Schnandeberg said. A crew was dispatched there with three pumps to alleviate that problem.

Elsewhere, Schnadenberg added, high water had forced the closure of one entrance to the Westchester South subdivision off Fifth Street, while high-water signs were posted on 11th Street in the vicinity of the Chesterton High School.

Throughout town huge pools of standing water were filling yards, streets, and intersections. For its part the Porter County Highway Department closed C.R. 1300N in the area of C.R. 450E in Pine Township when motorists woke up this morning to find a lake where the road used to be.

“The forecast is rain all day,” Schnadenberg said. “There’s too many problems to tell you about. I’ve seen areas flooded I haven’t seen flooded for years.”

How much rain has fallen?

Dick Condon, chief operator at the wastewater utility plant, says 3.25 inches, beginning around 8 p.m. and lasting all night long. But it’s not simply the amount of rain, he said. It’s also the rapidity with which it’s fallen. “It’s come down in a short duration. That’s part of the problem. I’ve got a bucket. It’ll hold a gallon of water. But I’m using a fire hose to fill it.”

Another part of the problem, Condon noted: frigid temperatures which last week turned the ground into something like concrete. This past weekend’s thaw may have melted the snow, and saturated the top soil, but it’s done nothing to soften the ground deeper down. “The ground is still frozen. It’s like putting in a parking lot. There’s no pervious surface to absorb it.”

Brass tacks: the wastewater treatment plant has been bypassing sewage into the Little Calumet River since around 8:30 or 9 p.m. Monday. Condon was unable to say how much had been bypassed, since a flow meter’s sensor was currently blocked by debris from the Little Cal, which itself had risen ominously. “Hopefully the river won’t come up high enough to damage any equipment,” he said.

Condon noted that at one point last night the rain eased considerably, then returned “with a vengeance” and by that time the system was full. “It’s like trying to put a gallon of milk in a teacup,” he said.

“I would be willing to bet that most treatment plants in the area right now are close to flood stage,” Condon ventured. “Right now we’re praying for snow.”

So are a lot of residents whose basements are backing up with wastewater. Town Engineer Mark O’Dell said that the sanitary sewer system, even the separated portions of it, is strained to capacity right now, in some cases because residents are illegally draining their sump pumps into it, but also because water from the saturated ground is infiltrating old clay-tile pipes.

The Villages of Sand Creek in particular is having a problem with basement backups, O’Dell observed, as the Dickinson Road lift station is “maxed out.” But the Utility is receiving reports of isolated backups throughout the town.

“There’s water everywhere,” O’Dell said. “In the street. In yards. The Little Cal is overflowing. So’s Coffee Creek. It’s like an act of God.”

Meanwhile, the Indiana Department of Transportation announced the closure of a number of highways in Northwest Indiana. As of 11 a.m. lanes of I-94 near Chesterton were closed, as were Indianapolis Blvd. (U.S. Highway 41) south of the Little Calumet River in Lake County and the cloverleaf ramps at U.S. Highway 35 and Ind. 212 in LaPorte County.

“INDOT reminds drivers to use caution in severe weather conditions and avoid driving if possible. According to the National Weather Service, most flooding deaths occur in automobiles. Turn around, don’t drown,” INDOT said.

Posted 1/8/2008