Northwest suburbs struggle with more outages

Driving down the 300 block of South Pine Street in Mount Prospect was a bit bumpy Monday evening, as Jill Burgos and her neighbors made an effort to share electricity by running bright orange extension cords across the street to people who were without power.

Thousands in the Northwest suburbs were without power after a severe thunderstorm swept through the area in the morning, downing trees and power lines. ComEd says it may take several days to restore power for all customers.

Many of the same customers experienced outages last month, when severe thunderstorms and a couple of small tornadoes hit the area. Tony Hernandez, spokesman for ComEd, said the location of outages depends on where the storm strikes, not any inadequacies in the utility's system.

Burgos, who is still waiting for two tree trunks to be removed as a result of the June storm, said the neighborhood has experienced outages before, but never for this long.

Arlington Heights also was hit hard by the storm. Steve Mullany, public works services coordinator for Arlington Heights, said the area with the most damage was east of Route 53 to Arlington Heights Road and south of Lake-Cook Road to Dundee Road.

He said the number of reported outages continued to rise during the day and the only estimate the village had from ComEd as to when power could be restored was “multiple days.”

“There are sporadic pouches of power outages all over the area from one to 1,000 (customers), so we're still figuring out the amount of damage,” Mullany said.

Larry Perkins, who has lived on the 500 block of Highland Avenue in Arlington Heights for more than 17 years, said he was lucky to still have electricity after a large tree branch blew onto the phone lines in his backyard.

“The branch just missed the power lines, so we're very fortunate,” he said.

Perkins added that he has suggested that ComEd remove trees near the power lines in the past, but the electric company hasn't done so.

Mark Semsak of Des Plaines said one branch landed on his roof and another crashed through a fence behind his house. Semsak said this storm, while shorter than the one a few weeks ago, seemed more powerful.

“I think a lot of branches and trees that would've gone down with this storm were taken out with the last,” he added.

In Des Plaines, about 5,800 customers were still without power at 6 p.m. and power lines were down in four locations, city officials said in a news release.

Hoffman Estates had roughly 2,000 residents lose power because of the storm, most of which came from the Highland area between Roselle Road and Jones Road.

Joe Nebel, director of public works for Hoffman Estates, said despite the power outages, the village did not suffer too much damage. He said crews were out all day Monday helping to clear branches, as well as 10 trees that were downed.

Schaumburg avoided the scale of power outages that hit many suburbs, but cleaning up from the damage will still keep the village busy all week.

Steven Weinstock, director of engineering and public works, said the village received nearly 200 calls for assistance in moving downed branches from properties and side streets.

Weinstock said he believes the area was not hit as hard by the storm as other suburbs and also benefitted because the majority of people have underground power lines.

“I think we were spared the brunt of it,” Weinstock said. “We're just a little less susceptible because of all the underground lines.”

Some towns opened cooling centers to help people cope with the hot and humid weather, and the power outages. In Buffalo Grove, the village hall, 50 Raupp Blvd., and the Buffalo Grove Fitness Center, 601 Deerfield Parkway, were being used as cooling centers.

In Hoffman Estates, Nebel said residents without air conditioning could go to the Hoffman Estates Police Department, Triphan Center, Prairie Stone Sports and Wellness Center and Willow Recreation Center.

Arlington Heights didn't have any requests for use of a cooling center Monday, but village health inspector Sean Freres said a plan is in place if needed.

Ÿ Daily Herald correspondent Jeff Engelhardt and staff writer Bob Susnjara contributed to this story.