Tornado!

As we were driving south on I-55 from Chicago, IL today, we saw a tornado near Dwight. Luckily, we were a few miles south when it formed. Here is a report from the local newspaper with a few pictures. I haven't heard any reports of anyone being injured, but there was a lot of property damage. It was odd that as we took the picture, the weather where we were was bright and sunny, but this terrible storm was forming just a couple miles north.



Here is the video we took.

Sump pump

There was a heavy rain last night, and I noticed the sump pump was running quite often. I took a video to show how much water was pouring into the sump pump pit. I have extended the downspouts to carry the water farther away from my foundation, but that does not appear to have made a significant difference. I wonder if a passive gravity fed drainage tile would help? There is a bit of a grade in the yard away from the house.

I plan on getting a water powered backup sump pump system, since my previous sump pump died after six years, which caused flooding in my basement. Luckily, I had the backup sump pump rider on my homeowners insurance. State Farm Insurance was wonderful to work with. No hassles and everything looks just like it did before the basement flooded.

Take a look at the video: