Glad I didn't park in that spot!

A few weeks ago I was awakened to a loud crash. I looked out my apartment window and saw this.....

Yes, that's a tree that fell right across an intersection damaging the minivan to the left (you can make out the driver side door on the left). 

The weather in Chicago has been interesting to say the least this summer. We had week long stretches of 90+ heat with rain coming in short and sometimes violent bursts. I can recall several blackouts because of storms that have hit the area however no large storms that also saturate the ground with rain. This is a very good thing. I can remember the past few summers where we also had extreme storms that not only caused blackouts but also dumped so much rain it caused flooding and sewer backup all over Chicago. 

So far, Chicago has escaped severe flooding and any rain is quickly absorbed by the parched ground. Weather is unpredictable and were here if you need us. 

Chicago Area Flood Map

If you live in the Chicago land area you know the past two summers have seen some heavy rain storms. I remember our office getting calls nearly ever minute requesting service. Servpro of Ravenswood literally received hundreds of calls over those first two days.

We noticed certain areas were affected more than others. The map below is from an article in the Wells Park Bull Dog that does a nice job illustrating where basements are more prone to flooding. This is pretty consistent with what we saw last year in June and July.

If you have property in the areas with a high risk of basement flooding it would be a good idea to look into adding sewage backup or flood backup to your current policy. You might be surprised to find out you are not covered for certain types of damage under your regular homeowners policy. If you can't afford to add sewage backup or flood coverage at least make sure your sump pumps are working properly and have a secondary power source in case of a blackout during a heavy rain storm.