Mayor Lori Lightfoot calls for federal disaster designation for Chicago lakefront

Calling recent destructive Lake Michigan waves and flooding from historically high water levels "climate change in action right here in our city,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday made a plea for millions of dollars in federal funding to repair damages and prepare the lakefront for a future in which these types of storm events become more frequent.

The mayor stood with Sen. Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, to request that the Federal Emergency Management Agency declare a lakefront emergency here, pointing to $37 million in damage caused in Chicago and Cook County by the January storms.

Lightfoot acknowledged “some concern, of course” that President Donald Trump won’t see the urgency in sending help to Chicago -- a city he has treated as a public antagonist for years -- to combat climate change, an issue he hasn’t deemed a high priority.

But she said the problem is much bigger than just city beaches and neighborhoods near the lake.

“The entire population that touches Lake Michigan, which encompasses several states, is affected by this,” she said. “So there’s a sense of urgency, I think, by every mayor, every elected official who cares about the environment, and in particular preserving this lake, that we get something done.”

Durbin was blunter about why he believes the reelection-seeking president will care about the situation impacting several Midwestern battleground states: “I hate to bring up politics, but I will. It’s not just 5,200 miles of shoreline, it’s hundreds of electoral votes. Take a look at the Great Lakes states. Take a look at the target states the presidential candidates are going to focus on in the Electoral College. You’ll see that they coincide.”

Durbin, the Senate Democratic whip, sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, and said he would try to make sure there’s fairness in how any funds get distributed.

Meanwhile, Lightfoot said she will seek sources of state and local funds to do some work, but said the key is to free up federal funds for the Army Corps of Engineers.

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The corps needs money to conduct “a general reevaluation report" of the shoreline to figure out which parts of it must be better protected, Lightfoot said. There’s also a longer-term plan needed to shore up the entire lakefront for generations, she said.

Lake Michigan’s water has been unusually high for some time. Since 2013, the lake has risen nearly 6 feet, going from a record low to near-record high levels last summer.

But the damaging storms of Jan. 10 and 11 made the severity of the situation apparent.

Strong winds propelled 23-foot waves into the shoreline, inundating streets in parts of South Shore and Rogers Park and sweeping away beaches. There was $25 million in damage in Chicago and another $12 million in other parts of Cook County during that storm, Lightfoot said.

Col. Aaron Reisinger of the Army Corps of Engineers said 9.2 miles of the Chicago shore that already have been reinforced by the corps in recent years withstood the pummeling by the storm better than other parts.

A “coastal resiliency study” would enable the corps to figure out what steps are needed next on the remaining lakefront in the city, he said.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker declared a state disaster Thursday, allowing municipalities to apply for federal funding to make repairs.

White House spokespeople could not be reached for comment Friday on the request that a federal disaster be declared in Chicago.

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Twitter @_johnbyrne

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