Hoffman handles snow, power outage

Hoffman Estates officials believe they couldn’t have been better prepared to tackle this week’s historic blizzard quickly and efficiently.

As early as late Wednesday afternoon, all the village’s roads were passable and moving, Village Manager Jim Norris said.

Hoffman Estates handles its snow removal a little differently than some municipalities may, by first insuring that there is a drivable lane in all directions on every street before returning to do curb-to-curb cleanup, Norris said.

Thursday’s efforts were largely confined to just hauling away large stockpiles of snow in dump trucks, he said.

Only one small neighborhood of about 40 homes north of Schaumburg Road was affected by a power outage Wednesday. Village employees canvassed the area door-to-door to make sure everyone was all right and electricity was fully restored by late Wednesday night, Norris said.

The village has not yet calculated the cost of the cleanup, but will do so to be eligible for any federal compensation that may be available if President Barack Obama declares the region a disaster area, Norris said.

Because the village is at the very beginning of its fiscal year, the true impact of the storm on the annual budget depends on the amount of snow that may still fall through December, he said.