CHICAGO, Nov 8 — On a fall night in 2019, Eric Brandt was awoken by the sound of steel rods cracking inside concrete.
Brandt, now a writer, recalled that it was the second major storm that he lived through in four years at his building. The five lakes that make up the Great Lakes, which account for more than 20 per cent of the world’s freshwater supply, have always risen and fallen over the decades. He and several neighbours then installed hurricane doors and shutters — which he says is just part of the cost of living on the lake.
“Some people moved out of the building because they couldn’t take the constant pounding,” Rosenthal said.That could also be the future for Jera Slaughter, a 71-year-old retired Amtrak worker on a fixed budget who has lived in the same building as Brandt for 44 years.