Sentinel 4-24-13

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Sentinel The Shorewood

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Vol. 18 No. 20

Voyager Media Publications • www.shorewoodsentinel.com

THE BATTLE OF VALENCIA DRIVE Residents lose fight against rising floodwaters, but mayor says it could have been worse By Stewart Warren For the Sentinel

T

he battle began at noon Thursday on Valencia Drive. That’s when Mayor Rick Chapman joined a group of volunteers and neighbors who were filling sandbags after the heavy rains of Wednesday and Thursday.They were trying to keep the steadily rising DuPage River away from several homes on the street. Chapman has been the flood-prone village’s mayor for many years, so he’s sandbagged before. But this time, it was a little more personal.The river was threatening the house in the 1000 block of Valencia Drive that’s owned by his daughter and son-in-law, Jodi and Eli Limacher. “It is a beautiful street — when it is not raining and the water is not attacking you,” Chapman said Saturday afternoon. They have a view of the river from the kitchens.” The local emergency management team had dumped sand on Valencia Drive along and at several other locations around the village. So while some members of the group filled the bags, wheel barreled them to the river and stacked them, Chapman stood in 3 feet of water behind See VALENCIA, page 2

More flood photos Page 9

STEWART WARREN/SPECIAL TO THE SENTINEL

Shorewood resident Eli Limacher hoses mud from his driveway in the 1000 block of Valencia Drive Sunday afternoon.


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