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NEWS
A Perfect Storm Rogers Park residents lend a hand after winter storms leave trash on neighborhood beaches
Zack Miller | The Phoenix
Powerful, 20-foot-tall waves washed up a kid’s playset on the shore of Loyola Beach, along with other items such as driftwood, a coat, shoes and trash. It’s unclear where the playset came from.
ZACK MILLER zmiller1@luc.edu
Heavy rain and strong winds struck many areas of Chicago the weekend of Jan. 10, causing floods that overtook Rogers Park beaches, walkways and some residents’ backyards. A consistent trend of rising water levels in Lake Michigan caused many of the city’s lakeshore areas to flood. The lake’s water levels rose six feet during the first half of 2019 and continues to due to unprecedented amounts of rain in the lake’s basin area. Waves ranged from 14 to 20 feet above the water line Jan. 11, and when combined with near-record high lake water levels, caused flooding, according to the National Weather Service. A small craft advisory — which is issued when conditions, such as high winds, could threaten small vessels — remained in effect until noon Jan. 14 with winds sitting just under 30 miles per hour. However, damage caused by the flooding had a silver lining: some Rogers Park residents were at the
beach after the storms cleaning up the extra trash that was washed up by the intense waves. Rogers Park residents Jen Halman and Lexi Weintrub were out collecting trash after the tide had settled Jan. 13. The two said the amount of trash they saw was about seven times what they normally see. “The water went all the way up to the fences,” Halman said. “We even found somebody’s bag of soil.” Halman grew up in the area and moved back five years ago, giving her experience with both the rising waters and trash collection. She said she had worked with trash collection groups in the past in addition to living nearby. “I’ve seen it before,” Halman said. “When I grew up on [West] Chase A venue we had a whole beach for many years and then it just eroded. Now they just have rocks against the building.” Another area veteran and regular beach-cleaner, Claire Prucher Epperly, noticed the trash on the beach was not just the usual cans and bottles, but other, significantly larger items when she went
out to clean the beaches Jan. 12. “It was really worse than I had ever seen,” Epperly said. “The stretch south of Pratt isn’t usually very dirty… and now there are big pieces of stuff. Someone’s coat, someone’s shoes, all sorts of trash I don’t usually see.” Epperly said she had seen storms like this before but that much of the trash found was not only bigger, but also in greater disrepair. “There were pieces of plastic that looked like they were from a broken radio,” Epperly said. “It definitely seemed like [the storm] was much more violent because everything was smashed, which I don’t usually notice.” Despite the increase in trash size, Epperly was able to clear the heavier set of litter brought in by the weekend’s wild waves. “We were able to get all the big pieces off that part of the beach so that was really gratifying,” Epperly said. “Honestly, I like to pick up trash. It’s immediate gratification and I don’t want to live in a messy, litter-filled neighborhood.”
Zack Miller | The Phoenix
High waves near Albion Avenue Park reached past the boulders along the shore, covering the rocks in a thin layer of ice.
Zack Miller | The Phoenix
Some Rogers Park residents were spotted picking up trash along the shoreline.
Zack Miller | The Phoenix
The lakewater at Pratt Beach reached far up shore, covering most of the beach and walking paths. Debris still remains days after the storm passed, and much of the standing water turned to ice.
Zack Miller | The Phoenix
Zack Miller | The Phoenix
Zack Miller | The Phoenix
Zack Miller | The Phoenix
Strong waves and gusts of wind pushed down fences and flattened patches of grass along the shore at Loyola Beach.
A detached dock was among the items washed to shore on Loyola Beach.