March 4, 2005
Each
year the Chicago Pub-Sprawl falls on the first Saturday
closest to St. Patrick's Day. As anyone from Chicago knows,
there's no telling what the weather will be like in early
March.
"Actually, there's no telling what the weather in
Chicago will be like any time during the year," laughs
one of The Weather Channel's "Weather Spotters"
for Berwyn, Bill Rafferton. "As they say, 'If you don't
like the weather in Chicago - wait a day, it'll change.'"
All good-natured weather-related humor aside, at least
one expert (and his assistant) warns that this year's Pub-Sprawl
may be wiped out by a tsunami.
"Pub-Sprawlers
are definitely putting themselves at risk, there's no doubt
about it," explains Peter Cox, scientist, "adverse
weather expert," Professor at the University of Chicago,
and avid Scrabble aficionado.
"Yeah, yeah," adds Prof. Cox's assistant, Michael
Yeh.
Most experts agree that a tsunami is a catastrophic wave,
usually caused by an earthquake below the water's surface
with a magnitude greater than 6.5 on the Richter scale.
Prof. Cox believes such an event could happen in Chicago
and, at any time, including March 12th 9th Annual Pub-Sprawl.
Prof. Cox explains, "As hard as it is to believe,
the possibility of a tsunami occuring here in Chicago does
exist. Most Chicagoans think it can't happen here, but what
they forget is that they live next door to a lake and where
there's water, there can be the possibility of tsunamis."
Yeh agrees, "Yeah, yeah."
"Unfortunately, Chicago lies just north of the New
Madrid fault line, one of the most powerful fault lines
in the world," Prof. Cox explains. "The last time
the New Madrid fault line erupted back in 1814, it changed
the course of the Mississippi, forcing it to flow backwards.
Of course, that was back in 1814. To put that kind of force
and magnitude into terms that everyone today could grasp,
that would be the equivalent to the power of 1.5 million
terrorists."
And that's not the worst of it, adds Prof. Cox. "We're
long overdue for another earthquake. And should that occur,
there is an extremely high probability that the 'City on
the Lake' will become the 'City in the Lake.'"
"Geez," says Rafferton, scratching his head.
"I always thought a tsunami had to occur in an ocean,
not a lake."
Prof. Cox dismisses Rafferton's notion as naiveity. "I
don't expect a Weather Channel Weather Spotter form Berwyn
to understand the nuances of the tscience of tsunamis."
But Prof. Cox is not all doom and gloom. "With the
great possibility of a tsunami hitting Chicago and wiping
out its inhabitants in mere seconds, every day it doesn't
occur, is a day we should all be thankful for."
"Yeah, yeah," adds Yeh nodding his head in agreement.
The question remains whether given this information Pub-Sprawlers
will venture out of their homes for this year's Pub-Sprawl.
Rachel Jacobson, a Pub-Sprawler two years running is thinking
twice, "I hadn't thought about the possibility of a
tsunami occuring right here in our backyard. I mean, I forgot
we even lived on a lake. I'm from Schaumburg."
But
others dismiss or ignore the possibility out right.
"Dude, I'm so there at this year's Pub-Sprawl whether
rain, snow, sleet, hail, mist, that foggy stuff, and snow
- did I say snow? - and rain. Nothing, but nothing is gonna
stop me from attending," says Cory Spiedel of Lincoln
Park. "I've been to four Pub-Sprawls. This year is
five. The next year is six. The year after that is like
seven. Let a wave come, what do I care? Chicago is a mess
anyway. I'll surf."
Will Prof. Cox be at the Pub-Sprawl? "No. It's too
dangerous. There's no telling when the New Madrid fault
line will go. My advice to those who go: wear a life preserver."
Pub-Sprawl correspondent and Miss Teen Idaho, Shelly
Blankski contributed to this report.
