Granite City underwater

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Summer is the time to make a splash, but Granite City took it too literally. 

Last Monday, a record-breaking nine and a half inches of rain swept through the city, causing severe flooding and damage to basements, streets and businesses. Cleanup efforts are ongoing.

Granite City High School was supposed to start Aug. 15 but was quickly canceled because of contaminated water affecting guidance offices and the lower basement areas below the auto shop. Superintendent Jim Greenwald said a professional restoration company in charge of the cleanup and crews have been working around the clock.

“I want parents to know that nobody will be put in harm’s way and that the safety of the students is a top priority,” Greenwald said.

Classes are expected to resume Monday, Aug. 26, for the entire school district.

Mayor Ed Hagnauer arranged for dumpsters throughout the city for residents to throw away damaged items. Dumpsters are in the parking lots of Calvary Life Church, Unity Baptist Church, Nameoki United Methodist, Holy Family Catholic Church, Second Baptist Church, Leaf Depot, Pizza World and Grace Point Pentecostal Church.

A community resource event took place this past weekend at the Granite City High School gymnasium.

“This event is our way of reaching out to the Granite City community,” Economic Development Director Cathy Hamilton said. “Obviously, with all the damage in our community, we have gotten all of the state organizations together. Disaster relief groups, community leaders with the churches. We wanted everyone to come down here so we can assess their needs for the cleanup, and it’s not just immediate needs. There are food needs and everything like that. So, this weekend was the assessment part. People still need help and we want to make sure that everybody’s basements are cleaned correctly, and they are taken care of.”

Organizations at the community resource event were Disaster Relief Illinois, the Illinois Department of Human Services, the Red Cross, Community Care Center and services for seniors. 

Chris Sedabres is with Second Baptist Church and is assisting with Disaster Relief Illinois. 

“I called them to see if they could come in and help with what they can to provide cleanup and mold remediation resources,” he said. “These people will be staying at our church, and we will have up to 60 people staying for the next four weeks. I know everybody is frustrated and there is a lot of hype and stress, but none of this could possible without God’s intervention.”

Numbers are still out, but it’s estimated the storm affected more than half of Granite City’s residents and about 500 businesses. Hagnauer has declared the situation a natural disaster. 

“The mayor has been the decision-maker, and he has been directing this from the top,” Hamilton said. “He has put Kathy Moore, police Captain Jenna De Yong and myself as some of the point people for information sources. Behind the scenes, he is making decisions with the police, fire department, building and zoning and the street department. We are trying to find out who is in most critical need. People still have raw sewage in their basements. The mayor has been busy making decisions and strategy.”

Iowa Street resident Debbie Seeka attended the community resource event.

“I had sewage come up through my basement and it ruined my new furnace, my water heater, dehumidifier, knocked out my breakers so I lost electric in three rooms and all my tile is coming up in four of my rooms,” she said. “I even had sewage in the bathtub.”

When asked if she believes Granite City officials are doing enough, she said she believes the city is responsible for covering damage and repair costs.

“I have lived in my house for 30 years and never had a flood in my life,” she said. “I think the city is responsible, and I heard they had the sewers shut off and they did not open the floodgate until two days later.” 

There have been several rumors circulating about the city’s pumps and drains being shut off or not operating in time to prevent most of the flooding, which has caused an extensive blame game. 

“Our drains and pump stations are on 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Kathy Moore, secretary to the mayor. “They all have alarms that go off if the pumps go down. We do not have the ability to turn them off or on. There is no magic button. So, they were all running, but there was one that got overwhelmed because it was four feet underwater. It was down for a short period of time. We got through this immediately and got it back up and running. So, the fact that the drains weren’t flowing was not because the pumps weren’t running. The drains weren’t flowing because they were full. It was a microburst and it was just overwhelmed. 

“The mayor is trying to stay away from the blame game,” Moore continued. “He’s not going to go out there and say, ‘Well, this institution didn’t do their job.’ There is enough blame to go around, and we never had nine and a half inches of rain in that short period of time. We have been out on the streets because we were concerned with the amount of water that stayed for an extended period of time. When it starts to recede, we need to make sure the debris within the lines do not back up and cause blockages.”

There have also been dividing opinions among the community on whether or not Hagnauer has been hands-on enough with the ordeal. Hagnauer could not be reached for comment, but Moore said: “This is what I will tell you about our mayor. He loves this city, and I know that may sound trite, but it’s true. Mayor Hagnauer is not a social media man, and that is what everyone wants. Cathy Hamilton did a video and we got it out on Facebook, and the mayor is willing to answer every email and call. I had a stack of messages and he sat down and answered every call. He is just not a social media person, and it’s not going to happen. I don’t mean to sound that way, but that’s the way it is. Social media is very hard and if you were to go out on social media and do daily updates, he would be spending several hours a day responding to those comments. Again, he is available. All you have to do is call. He will call you back. Come on down. If he is not out checking the streets, he has been to houses and out in the trenches. He is well aware of what we are going through.”

Resident Maria Vinson disagrees. 

“I made a claim to the mayor’s office day one,” she said. “I hopped on everything and tried all of my options, and I have not heard anything back. I think the mayor should make some kind of statement, like we’re in the works with our insurance companies or whatever. At least something.”

Overwhelmed and exhausted, Vinson and her family made headlines when it was learned that she and her family had to evacuate their home to escape rising floodwaters. 

“Water was coming into our basement and I was posting updated photos as it kept creeping up and it got all the way to the top,” she said. “I looked outside and it started to rain again, and the sewers weren’t backing down at all. Water was about five inches from my doorstep. Thankfully, my husband has a jon boat and a motor. Water was waist deep in certain parts of the road. We were looking out for the safety of the kids because we didn’t know if the water was going to keep rising or not.”

Water reached the very top of Vinson’s basement, half an inch away from the ceiling. 

“We lost the furnace, the hot water heater, air conditioning and water completely covered the breaker box,” she said. “That’s just the essentials. That doesn’t include the fact that the basement was fully finished and furnished. The basement was literally like the best part of the house.”

A GoFundMe account was started by Vinson’s aunt, and almost $2,000 has been raised.

“We have gotten a lot of strangers, family and friends coming by to help,” Vinson said. “It’s been crazy, and these people have worked to the extreme.”

Whenever Granite City encounters a disaster or one of its residents needs help, the community is known for rallying together and reaching out. 

Duke Bakery, in the Bellemore Village Shopping Center on Nameoki Road, was one of several flood-affected businesses. Owner Ben Hollis said he hopes to reopen by the end of this week.

“We had damage to the walls, floors, cases, booths and all products in the refrigerators and freezers,” he said. “Every edible product within these walls had to be tossed out.”

When Hollis posted photos on Facebook of the damage, he was floored by the response. The initial post had about 200 comments, 100,000 views and more than 1,600 shares. The Granite City Dairy Queen reached out with a proposal.

“Dairy Queen reached out to us on Facebook and called our Alton location and offered to allow us to have orders picked up there,” Hollis said. “That evolved into letting us use the dining room to sell our products. It was so overwhelming, and just to have somebody offer that to us is unbelievable. I mean, the gratitude that we have for that, I can’t put it into works. We never really met them or had a working relationship prior to this, and for them to step up and offer that was pretty amazing.  I think we formed a lifelong friendship now.”

The community outreach event served 832 families over the two-day event.

Numerous organizations assessed residents’ needs. Salvation Army distributed $2,500, United Way distributed $10,000 and the Illinois Realtors Association registered residents for at least $25,000 in total distribution. Many others provide for immediate needs of food, clothing and additional information.

IASB provided assessment for more than 500 families for labor, cleanup and mold checks.

City officials will provide updates about the availability of cleanup buckets, free mold prevention spray and dumpster conditions.

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