As if there aren’t enough variables to ponder these days, the Chagrin River on March 29 had the full attention of Eastlake Mayor Dennis Morley.

Swollen by rainfall over the orevious 48 hours, the river rose rapidly through the night. By the early morning hours on March 29, Morley said, a reverse-911 call was made to Eastlake residents living on low-lying streets that typically are affected when the river spills over its banks.

“They get a warning that the water is rising and they should move their vehicles to higher ground,” Morley said. “It happens all the time on those streets. The people who live there are used to it.”

Morley was stationed in the parking lot of Trader Jacks, a popular car and restaurant on the west end of the Lakeshore Boulevard bridge. He said the water had briefly risen high enough top encroach on part of the parking lot.

“A ton of trees and debris has been shooting by here,” Morley said with the sound of roaring water as backdrop.

About a half mile south of Lakeshore Boulevard, on the pedestrian bridge over the river in Chagrin River Park, many park patrons used the bridge’s vantage point to take photos of the muddy brown, cascading water.

Eastlake Mayor Dennis Morley kept a keen eye on the rain-swollen Chagrin River in March 29. pic.twitter.com/64dPcNNegN

— David S. Glasier (@nhglasier) March 29, 2020