Schneider Tours Flood Areas, Pitches In

Congressman gets glimpse of damage and then helps with sandbags.

Rep. Brad Schneider (D-Deerfield) may have been in Washington when heavy rain brought severe floods to parts of the 10th Congressional District, but he became immersed in it before he could get home. Schneider planned to return to his Deerfield residence Thursday night but weather delays kept him away until late Friday morning. After returning, he went to see the flood damage along the Des Plaines River in Des Plaines, Mount Prospect and Wheeling. Earlier: When Will Area Rivers Crest? By Saturday morning he became a volunteer, bringing friends and staff members with him to help with sandbagging efforts in Lincolnshire and Fox Lake. There was plenty of company. “I’m really impressed by the community people volunteering,” he said. Schneider …

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In the Archives

Explosions, Fires, Deaths and Floods

Disasters in Grayslake's history were the focus of a recent program hosted by The Grayslake Historical Society.

It was just an ordinary night in Grayslake in 1978 for Evelyn Cole Kaht until her family home exploded. “The hands of Richard Cole’s clock are stuck at 10:28," Kaht wrote in a story about the local disaster. "It is the only clock of the several he owned, cleaned and tinkered with that has never been repaired. The clock ticked its final seconds on Tuesday evening, October 10, 1978. I was a senior at Grayslake Community High School that year and it was the week of homecoming. We lived at 160 Park Place, in a home that was owned by Ruth Pester.” This was the first paragraph of Kaht's story, which recalled the fateful night when her Grayslake home exploded. The event was just one of many disaster stories shared during the April 14 Reminisce …

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