3 deaths, 4 days without power

Autopsy results show DuPage County was home to one of three deaths attributable to last week's violent storm.

A 67-year-old Florida man suffered a fatal head injury when he was hit by a falling tree limb Thursday at Medinah Country Club, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Rick Snellings of Bradenton, Fla., was attempting to leave the course as bad weather approached. He was walking back to the clubhouse when the accident occurred.

Bloomingdale Fire Chief Dave Christensen said paramedics were sent out at 3:19 p.m. to the country club at 6N001 Medinah Road.

"When rescuers got to the patient, he was unconscious, not breathing and without a pulse," Christensen said Monday.

Snellings was airlifted from Adventist GlenOaks Hospital in Glendale Heights to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood around 7 p.m. Thursday. He died Friday night.

Thursday's storms may have contributed to the deaths of two other people.

A Mount Prospect man died Friday of a heart attack while he was helping neighbors start up a generator and bail water.

In Inverness, longtime Cook County Forest Preserve District general superintendent Arthur L. Janura was found Friday by his son lying near a circuit breaker box in 2 to 5 inches of water at his home. Authorities don't know if the cause of death was electrocution related to the storms or if he had a heart attack.

Addison

Addison Public Works Director Greg Brunst said workers Monday still were cleaning tree debris and branches, but damaged trees that posed a hazard have been taken down from public property.

The village also is escalating wood chipping efforts, since residents are bringing tree debris out from their backyards.

Some residents, Brunst said, did get water in their basements because of power outages that rendered their sump pumps useless. Addison's waste hauler will take extra debris, including damaged rugs, on collection day.

DuPage County

A ComEd employee helping restore power to DuPage County customers was assaulted early Sunday morning at the company's Swift Road office, near Lombard.

John Dewey, a ComEd spokesman, said the employee was working alone about 2:30 a.m. when he was beaten and robbed.

The employee, whose name Dewey withheld, was treated at an area hospital for minor cuts to his face.

ComEd distributed a safety bulletin after the attack, warning employees to work in pairs in unfamiliar areas.

The DuPage County sheriff's office is investigating, but it's unclear whether any arrests have been made. A sheriff's office spokeswoman didn't return a call seeking comment.

Glen Ellyn

About 60 parents met with Churchill Elementary School officials Monday in response to students at the Glen Ellyn school being dismissed just before Thursday's storm.

Glen Ellyn School District 41 spokeswoman Julie Worthen said dismissal was delayed at the district's schools. But since Churchill has an earlier release time, Principal Scott Klepitz felt kids would have ample time to get home, according to Worthen.

Klepitz checked weather monitors and talked to a police officer, who agreed it was safe to let students out at on time.

Once dismissal began and the storm hit, some students already were heading home, district officials said. Students in the process of leaving were brought back and kept inside until the storm passed.

"(Klepitz) would never deliberately release children knowing the storm would hit that soon," Worthen said.

No injuries were reported. Still, the district plans to re-evaluate its emergency procedures.

School officials scheduled another meeting for parents at 7 p.m. tonight at Churchill.

Lombard

Lombard has distributed more than 2,500 debris stickers for storm-damaged items since Saturday, Public Works Director Wes Anderson said.

"The majority of the damage has been on the north side," Anderson said, adding a few pockets south of St. Charles Road lost power.

One section includes a 19-block area without electricity, village officials said.

As of late Monday afternoon, an estimated 130 locations within the village still were without power, according to a ComEd spokesman.

Milton Township

Highway Commissioner Gary Muehlfelt said it may take a month to clean up the damage left by a confirmed tornado touchdown between Wheaton and Winfield.

Muehlfelt estimated that at least 300 trees sustained damage, completely blocking 30 streets in the township.

Naperville

Part of Royce Road in Naperville was closed Monday to westbound traffic at Lisson Road so workers could repair a sinkhole caused by the heavy rains.

Vehicles were rerouted north on Lisson Road to Naper Boulevard. Eastbound traffic was not affected.

The sinkhole, created when heavy rains eroded a storm sewer line, was repaired by 3 p.m. Monday.

Naperville city engineers also reported that the DuPage River is receding from near flood stages late last week and was just a foot and a half above normal levels.

No damage was reported as the river crested above the "low-flow walkway" after last week's storms, said Bill Novack, head of the city's engineering team.

Villa Park

The greatest levels of storm-related damage in Villa Park occurred on the village's north side.

"It was a mess. It is still a mess," Village Manager Robert Niemann said Monday.

Niemann is asking residents to double-bag spoiled food and leave it curbside for normal pickup.

"Now, it's a matter of getting everything cleaned up," he said, "which could take a week or two."

Wheaton

Pockets in the northeast corner of Wheaton were without power for the fourth day on Monday.

Henry Kawell sweated as he pulled even more tree limbs to add to the 5-foot pile of brush lining sidewalks on parts of Washington Street.

Water pooled to just below Kawell's knees in some parts of the street when he arrived home during the storm. City crews used a bulldozer to clear a path wide enough for emergency access.

Across the street from Kawell, a tree with a 6-foot root ball lay toppled on a neighbors driveway. Patches of blue tarp marked the damage points on a home's roof.

While Kawell's house escaped relatively unscathed, lack of power kept him eating out and in the dark. "There comes a point when it becomes pretty annoying," he said.

A ComEd spokesman said late Monday afternoon that more than 2,200 area homes and businesses were without power, including five in Wheaton.