One big difference between living in Vermilion and living in Lorain is the threat of flooding.
I never thought too much about the Black River overflowing its banks while I lived in Lorain. After all, it's a long way down from the bridge deck to the river when you're driving over the W. 21st Street Bridge.
But in Vermilion (where I live now), the threat of the Vermilion River flooding is very real. It's an annual concern when the snow melts and the frozen river begins to thaw – making the evacuation of riverfront residents a strong possibility.
And that was the concern fifty years ago this month, as noted on the front page of the Lorain Journal of March 3, 1973 (below).
What's interesting is that the high level of Lake Erie was being blamed on our friendly neighbors to the north, the maple-syrup loving Canadians. As the article noted, "Congressman Charles Vanik, a Cleveland Democrat, said yesterday that he had been told by the State Department that if American property owners along Lake Erie have property damage because of the high lake levels they should file claims with the Canadian government.
"Vanik says he was told the high water was due to the Canadian government's closing of the Welland Canal, which links Lakes Erie and Ontario. The shipping canal is closed while a widening project is underway."
However, that viewpoint seems to be just one government official's opinion. The Journal article also pointed out, "Channel 5 Television in Cleveland produced a special at 9 last night and quoted lake authorities as saying that the Welland Canal closing would contribute, at the most, one inch to the level of Lake Erie. And this was expected to drop when the canal is reopening this spring."
(During one of my many trips to Canada during the 1990s, I took a short side trip to see the Welland Canal. It was worth stopping to see.)
Elsewhere on the Journal front page was the horrific murder of several American diplomats by Arab Terrorists, including Cleo A. Noel, the U. S. Ambassador to Sudan. His daughter was a student at Oberlin College at the time.
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Click here to visit my post about Vermilion flooding during the infamous July 4, 1969 storm.
