Palatine officials praise response to storm

Violent storms knocked out power for more than half of the electricity customers in Palatine, but officials said a coordinated effort by ComEd, village workers and even residents helped restore power quickly and safely.

Village Manager Reid Ottesen this week said the storms hit the village just after 2 p.m. Friday with sustained winds of 60 to 80 mph. The damage it did to trees, power lines and transformers — some of which blew up — was felt throughout the community. At the worst point Friday night, 15,900 ComEd customers out of 31,000 in Palatine were without power.

“It was like a war zone; it was unbelievable,” said Nick Grasso, a volunteer with the Palatine Emergency Management group who was posted Friday afternoon at the intersection of Helen Road and Elm Street. “Trees were down everywhere, power lines were down. The downed power lines were about only 20 yards away from the intersection.”

Grasso said he and his wife, also a volunteer, got to work barricading the area and turning away cars who tried to drive through the hazard. There were as many as 70 to 90 volunteers assisting first responders over the weekend, he said.

At the village council meeting Monday, Mayor Jim Schwantz commended the village's fire, police and public works employees who spent the weekend keeping people safe and repairing damage. He also praised ComEd employees who worked long hours to restore power.

“We bash on ComEd a lot in this room sometimes, (but) they truly did step up to the plate,” he said.

Ottesen said ComEd and the village did a better job of coordinating their efforts over the weekend than they had in previous serious storms. He said ComEd was on the scene assessing damage soon after the storm, and even brought a mobile command trailer to the Palatine Public Works Department for better coordination.

By Saturday afternoon, power had been restored to half of the ComEd customers who'd lost it, Ottesen said.

“(Sunday) night if you drove through parts of the center of town you could see 30 to 40 ComEd and other contractors' vehicles in neighborhoods really getting everything done, bringing us back to 100 percent restoration by the end of the day Sunday,” he added.

The village will begin a special brush pick up for storm-related tree limbs and brush at 6 a.m. Thursday. Residents are asked to pile fallen tree materials in between the sidewalk and the street, with the stem-side facing the street.

Ottesen said once crews have been through a neighborhood they will not return. For questions about the special collection call public works at (847) 705-5200.