Amid severe erosion along Lake Michigan, one couple feels the next storm could be the end of their home

KENOSHA COUNTY -- Severe bluff erosion on the coast of Lake Michigan in Racine and Kenosha Counties has cost several homeowners dangerously large chunks of property. One Kenosha County couple's home is now just a few feet from the edge.

"The next storm out of the northeast, it could be all over," Tom Lindgren said.

Tom and Marge Lindgren

For some, the waves of Lake Michigan crashing along the shoreline is calming. Not so much for Tom and Marge Lindgren.

"You get a storm out of the northeast, you can hear it," Lindgren said.

They can actually hear chunks of their land being ripped away -- into Lake Michigan.

"It gets pretty rough out here," Lindgren said.

Officials with the Army Corps of Engineers say the rapid erosion is due to the waves crashing higher up the coastal bluffs -- a byproduct of high lake levels, which naturally ebb and flow.

Jim Selegean

"Lakes have been going up and down in the same range we`re seeing for the last 4,000 years," said Jim Selegean, a hydraulic engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Selegean works in the corps' Detroit office. He said severe bluff erosion has been recorded in both Wisconsin and Michigan. He adds some segments of the shoreline are more susceptible to rapid erosion than others.

"Certain parts of the lake experience a more energetic wave climate so those are the parts that get beat up more by the waves and the high water," Selegean said.

Selegean says that natural process is now happening more quickly.

"I think there is scientific consensus that the storms, which are really what’s doing the work of erosion, the storms are coming more frequently, they’re coming in more energetic packets," he said, "That’s exactly what the forecasts and the projections for climate change are supposed to be bringing in."

In Wisconsin, severe erosion is happening in Racine and Kenosha Counties. More than a dozen homeowners have been affected, including the Lindgrens, who could once walk down to the water.

"The dog used to run up and down there like a squirrel. I mean, she'd run down there and jump in the lake," Lindgren said, "Now we're afraid to let her out because we don't know if she's gonna fall off the edge."

The Lindgrens are now literally losing ground with each storm. A large tree was the latest casualty.

"It was a beautiful tree...and we lost our picnic table," Lindgren said.

Officials with the Army Corps of Engineers suggest makeshift beaches as a short-term fix.

"So when the lakes come up, rather than high water eroding the bluff, which their house is built on, it`s gonna erode the sacrificial beach," Selegean said.

While officials have yet to publicly identify possible actions to stave off or slow the erosion, Lindgren says he would support interest-free loans from FEMA to help him protect what remains of his land.

Lindgren worries that, sooner or later, they'll have to give up their land before the earth takes it.

"You can't beat Mother Nature," Lindgren said, "That's for sure."

PHOTO GALLERY



A meeting will take place involving state and federal officials on Tuesday, June 7th regarding the severe erosion along Lake Michigan in both Racine and Kenosha counties.

This "Technical Assistance Community Meeting" will take place at the Village of Mount Pleasant Auditorium at 8811 Campus Drive in Mount Pleasant from 5:30 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.

Affected property owners and local officials are invited to attend.

A statement from Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave to FOX6 News included the following objectives for this meeting:

Agencies invited include:

“This is a very serious problem,” Delagrave said in the statement. “I want those affected by this problem to be aware of all the options and having these subject matter experts gathered in one room is a step in that direction.”

Kenosha County Sheriff's officials are encouraging residents in their county to attend this meeting.

In a statement issued to FOX6 News, officials said there are three properties in Kenosha County that are currently known to be affected by this severe bluff erosion.

The statement from the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department reads, in part: