Damage due to beach erosion in Long Beach.
A septic field in Long Beach is exposed following erosion of the beach.
A porch is close to collapsing due to beach erosion in Long Beach.
The pavilion at Portage Lakefront Park and Riverwalk remains open and safe despite recent erosion, the National Park Service says.
The Indiana Department of Homeland Security is refusing to declare an emergency exists as a result of massive beach erosion along Lake Michigan caused by high water levels and powerful winter storms.
In a letter issued Wednesday, IDHS Executive Director Stephen Cox said the damage to public resources along the shoreline is insufficient to open the spigot of federal disaster funds that typically follows a state emergency declaration.
"To date, we are unaware of any loss of infrastructure (i.e. roads, bridges, public utilities, etc.) which would qualify for public assistance funding from federal or state disaster relief programs," Cox said.
Cox explained IDHS and several other state agencies are regularly monitoring beach erosion along the lake, in conjunction with local, state and federal elected officials as well as federal government agencies.
He said similar shoreline erosion issues are occurring in Michigan, and that state also has not issued a disaster declaration or sought assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"We will remain in contact with local and federal officials and agencies about funding and resources available for preventative measures which may provide some short-term relief from the erosion, but also more permanent, long-term mitigation projects," Cox said.
State Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, who along with state Rep. Pat Boy, D-Michigan City, asked Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb to declare a disaster in Porter and LaPorte counties, said the state's response is woefully inadequate.
She said while "public" infrastructure, such as the Portage lakefront pavilion, has not been lost to the lake — yet — there's an urgent need for state resources to prevent that from happening.
Tallian noted that support beams for porches at lake-adjacent homes in Long Beach already have collapsed, and lake water has seeped past barriers and exposed septic fields in the town, potentially resulting in sewage entering the lake.
In addition, Tallian said the town of Beverly Shores recently spent a "big pile of money" to prevent Lake Front Drive from being washed out, along with nearby water and gas lines.
"Surely we don't have to wait until the road is in the lake before we can ask for assistance," Tallian said.
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Local emergencies due to beach erosion have been declared by officials in Porter County, Portage, Ogden Dunes and Beverly Shores.
The Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission reacted to the lakeshore situation Thursday by creating a committee to push state and federal authorities for a more helpful response. The commission, which serves as a Council of Governments with members from 46 Northwest Indiana units of government, will stress the urgency of the threat of rising lake levels, as well as the broader regional and national implications.
Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. suggested the regional action.
“In Hammond, there used to be one large beach. Last summer it turned into two beaches because the water was so high … and now we have no beach at all,” he said, noting the problem stretches around Lake Michigan.
“Why don’t we, as a body, put some pressure on the state?” he asked.
Beverly Shores Town Councilman Geof Benson characterized the state and federal response to the local request for assistance as, “It’s a local problem, fix it yourself.”
Other officials discussed the impact on inland communities. Chesterton Town Councilman Jim Ton noted his town’s dependence on the Indiana Dunes as an attraction for visitors.
“Our town is very directly affected commercially,” he said. “If that’s not an attraction," he said of the state and national parks, "we’ve got a lot of businesses that are going to suffer.”
NIRPC Chairman Michael Griffin, clerk-treasurer of Highland, will head the effort to draft a regional argument for emergency assistance.
“It would be remarkable to tell any community to bear that,” he said of beach erosion's impact.
Gallery: Things you might not know about Porter County
1. Oh Baby!
Frank Daniel Gerber (1873-1952), the man behind the great idea to manufacture a baby food line attended post-high school in Valparaiso, at what was then called Valparaiso Normal School. He had planned to become a teacher. Born in the town of Douglas, Mich., he graduated from Fremont High School in Fremont, Mich., the same area he returned to to start the Gerber Baby Food Co., originally called Fremont Canning Co. in 1901, with his father, Joseph Daniel Gerber. Some members of the Gerber family eventually settled back to Valparaiso, which even became their final resting place, including his descendant Hannah Gerber, who is buried in Valparaiso's Ludington Cemetery.
2. What a Ride
A highlight of Northern Indiana, Enchanted Forest was a popular amusement park in Porter, Ind., at the intersection of U.S. 20 and Ind. 49, north of Chesterton near the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. From 1957 until it closed in 1991, it attracted families with its billing "The Playland of the Indiana Dunes." It featured three restaurants, assorted rides and games and large concrete animal statues scattered throughout the grounds for photo opportunities.
3. TV Great
Former Valparaiso University Crusaders head basketball coach Bryce Drew, now at Vanderbilt, is married to Tara Thibodeaux, who was a professional cheerleader of the Atlanta Hawks and is also the daughter of former child actor Keith Thibodeaux, who played "Little Ricky" Ricardo Jr. on the TV series "I Love Lucy." Today, Tara teaches dance at Eclipse Performing Arts in Chesterton.
4. Actress Accolade
Many people realize Emmy award-winning actress Beulah Bondi (1889-1981) who appeared as the mother of Jimmy Stewart's character in "It's a Wonderful Life," was born and raised in Valparaiso and graduated from Valparaiso University. However, what is not often referenced is that after she starred opposite Joan Crawford, Robert Taylor, Lionel Barrymore and Franchot Tone in the 1936 film "The Gorgeous Hussy," she was one of the first five actresses nominated for a 1937 Academy Award in the newly created category of "Best Supporting Actress." Alas, she lost to actress Gale Sondergaard.
5. All Washed Up
Josephine Garis Cochrane (1839-1913), credited as the inventor of the first commercially successful automated dishwasher, was raised in Valparaiso, where she attended private school. Her grandfather, John Fitch, was the inventor of the steamboat. Dubbed the Cochrane Dishwasher, she patented it and revealed her invention at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
6. Batter up
Hoosier Bat Co., based in Valparaiso at 4511 Evans Ave., manufactures 35,000 regulation wooden baseball bats per year. Baseball legend Frank Thomas and other MLB stars have swung these prized bats since the company started in 1991.
7. Famed names
The Memorial Opera House in Valparaiso, is an auditorium built as a memorial to Civil War veterans of Porter County.
8. In the round
The White House, at Jefferson Street and Morgan Avenue in Valparaiso, was an acclaimed restaurant, even attracting celebrities such as Liberace and others, until i closed in 1990s. Long before it was a restaurant, shortly after it was built by the Calkins Family, it was purchased in 1873 by Henry Baker Brown, who was president of what today is known as Valparaiso University. What makes the house, which still stands today, so unique is that all of the rooms are "oval" without corners, paying homage to the Oval Office concept of The White House in Washington D.C.
9. Losing religion
While Valparaiso University is famous as having "the largest collegiate chapel in the United States" and founded in Lutheran faith, the original campus school was started by members of the Methodist faith in 1859.
10. Here and there
Lincoln Highway aka Historic U.S. 30 ranks as the first transcontinental highway. The road's stretches through Porter County represent some of the more interesting "twists and turns" of remapping, when portions were "rerouted" after World War I.
11. Trailing off
The Yellowstone Trail was intended as the first transcontinental automobile highway in the United States through the northern tier of states from Washington through to Massachusetts when it was planned in 1912. Taking its name from the portion which intersected Yellowstone Park, a portion also connected through Porter County, still labeled today as Yellow Stone Road in Valparaiso.
12. Naming names
Valparaiso University has hosted many important and acclaimed speakers on campus throughout the decades, with Sen. Bobby Kennedy and President William Howard Taft ranking near the top noted names.
13. Bad or good?
Frank James, the brother of outlaw Jesse James, did his best to reinvent the family name following his brother's demise. In 1898, he toured the country making personal appearances, including appearing at the Porter County Fairgrounds in Valparaiso to shoot the start gun for the annual fair's horse racing contest.
14. A bigger star
Much attention throughout the years has been given to the nearly 20 "little people" who played Munchkins in the 1939 classic film "The Wizard of Oz" and their attendance at Chesterton's annual Wizard of Oz Festival. But in 1981, at age 78, actress Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West, visited The Yellow Brick Road store in Chesterton to see Jean Nelson, who founded The Wizard of Oz Festival. Although her visit preceded the first official festival year and she became too ill to attend the actual annual event, Nelson always says it was one of her greatest honors to have met Hamilton.
15. Popped or not?
While Orville Redenbacher was never born and raised in Valparaiso, he became associated with the city because of his first popcorn factory location. When he died at age 88 in September 1995, first reports of his death as a result of "drowning in his bathtub," were dubbed as a hoax spread by morning radio show hosts. But in fact, he did fall in the tub of his bathroom as a result of a heart attack and death ruled to be a drowning.
16. All tied up
Thomas Lambert, who hailed from rural Porter County, officially changed his name as "The Great Lamberti" and became a famed circus contortionist in the 1930s. He even has a brief role in the Marx Brothers' 1938 film "At the Circus."
17. Back to School
Chautauqua Desks were the classroom standard in the early 1900s, developed by a man known only as Dr. Vincent and manufactured by Louis E. Myers & Co. in Valparaiso. More than a million desks were sold by 1913 and 2 million by 1929, including elegant parlor designs for the home.
18. A draining experience
Much of Southern Porter County in the early 1900s was a swampy vast area prized for wildlife and hunting, attracted famous names of the day from throughout the country who came to hunt and trap game, including General Lew Wallace and President Teddy Roosevelt. However, as the need grew for more agriculture, the lands were drained for farmland.
19. On the air
The Valparaiso home of Michael Essany once served as the location for what was billed as "the youngest TV talk show host," netting the youth an international broadcast contract on E! cable network in 2003 for his own reality series "The Michael Essany Show."
20. Something funny
Comedian Jim Gaffigan loves his Porter County connection. He describes himself as "born and raised in Dune Acres, a suburb of Chesterton," and even attended Purdue University for his freshman year before transferring to Georgetown. His high school years were spent at LaLumiere School, the private school in LaPorte, where he graduated in 1984.
— Times staff writer Andrew Steele contributed to this report.
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Dan Carden
Chief Political Reporter
Dan has reported on Indiana state government for The Times since 2009. He also covers casinos, campaigns and corruption.
