Indiana Dunes after Ike

September 15 & 16, 2008

After checking into my motel room in La Porte, I drove to Indiana Dunes State Park to walk on the beach and enjoy the lake. I was surprised at the amount of damage brought by the storm in a relatively short time. I talked with a park employee who said that the previous night they had been sandbagging the parking lot in waist-deep water to protect the beach pavilion.

The sky was heavily overcast and the wind had the lake churned up. Severe wave erosion was visible along the shore.

Dune Creek drains approximately 7,000 acres of dunes, forest, and wetland. It passes beneath the beach pavilion parking lot through a large concrete culvert and reaches the lake as a slow, shallow meandering stream stained the color of strong tea by decomposing leaves and other vegetation picked up along its path.

Although things had calmed down considerably by Monday evening the flow from the culvert was still very strong.

Before the storm, the beach tapered gradually to near water level close to the end of the concrete retaining wall.

Apparently the culvert blew out from pressure beneath the parking lot, and the escaping water washed away the sand and allowed the pavement to collapse. The worker with whom I talked said that as they were sandbagging they could see the surface of the lot crumbling away.

Stormy weather washes up all kinds of stuff and makes good pickings for the gulls. Always plentiful, they were out in larger-than-usual numbers.

Approximately 24 hours later, the sun was shining, the lake was calm, and except for the physical damage to the parking lot and the still higher than normal flow from Dune Creek, things seemed to be returning to normal.

I heard shouting and cheering, and following the sound, found a beach volleyball game just wrapping up.

Chicago skyline across the lake, as sunset approaches.

Northwest Indiana steel mills on the horizon at sunset.