High, powerful waves leave a mess after battering Indiana shore

BEVERLY SHORES, Ind. - The power and danger of Lake Michigan was on full display Thursday along the Indiana shoreline.

With lake levels already near a record high, massive waves caused significant damage to areas that have already been hard hit by erosion.

In a matter of hours overnight, massive waves sliced off nearly 40-feet of shoreline, a parking lot and half of Lakefront Drive was swallowed up by Lake Michigan.

Jim Corrigan watched it happen from his house in the bluffs above, as 50-mile-an-hour winds smashed 15-foot waves into the shoreline, scooping out the land beneath the roadway until it collapsed.

“We were up quite a bit because the walls and windows were constantly rattling. It almost sounded like a hurricane. It was that strong,” Corrigan said.

Town Councilwoman Susan Loeb says they have been asking for state and federal help for years to slow the erosion, but nothing happens.

“It’s a tragedy. It’s something we’ve been trying to mitigate as much as possible. Get the attention of the government, local county officials. Every day we have been on this,” she said.

A few miles east in Michigan City, the waves caused a surge in the marina, damaging some boats and covering docks.

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“They’re banging into the side of the pier. I saw there were a couple boats damaged because the lines were too tight and they actually pull out the fiberglass,” said boat owner Andy Hynek.

But the worst damage may be still to come, as residents worry the land underneath lakefront homes may be the next to wash away into the lake.