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June 18, 2010

Updated June 19, 2010

This car did not require special overnite parking..
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Update: June 20th
Some families in Oak Park were still without power until 4:45 pm on June 19th. In River Forest there some homes near Dominican University, on Park that are still without power today and have been four days without power in the past.

The fallen trees that have blocked roads are all cleaned up, though many are not on streets and they wait for removal.

Update: June 19th Many local homes are still without power the following day and no predicted time for a return for power. Many are using generators, many are beginning to loose their food which had been refrigerated. Lines at McDonald's and other local restaurants get long...

Storms Hit Oak Park Twice

The storms came into our region at nearly 60 miles and hour, that is the speed of the storm front as it approached. Thousands of homes were quickly without power, some from fallen power lines and others from overloaded transformers.

One side of a block would have power and the other would be out. One end of a block was fine and the other end of the block was powerless. Some homes in Oak Park and River Forest still had no power the following day.

We have heard of no serious injuries to people, but plenty of property damage to homes, cars, trees, fences, and porches.

Oak Park issued am announcement of the damage and situation last night in a special report, listed below.

Early in the afternoon the Oak Park Fire Department, was inspecting fallen trees, downed powerlines in yards, alleys, and more...over 47 at this time.

Police secure street with fallen power lines
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This man looks at where he had a back porch a few moments ago.
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Special Report

Storm damage widespread; caution urged

A strong, late afternoon thunderstorm today caused widespread damage across the Village of Oak Park, with reports of trees and utility lines down, roads blocked and power outages.

Village public safety officials are asking residents to use caution on the streets and to stay away from downed power lines.

Preliminary estimates are that about 40 trees were down or damaged, many blocking streets and making travel difficult. Power lines were reported down in various parts of the Village as well, at least three live and arcing.

At about 6 p.m., ComEd was estimating that more than 3,000 of its Oak Park customers were without power. No estimate has been made for when power should be restored.

Traffic signals are out at several intersections. Police have deployed four-way stop signs and residents are urged to travel with caution.

Some 20 Village workers are cleaning up debris tonight, while Police and Fire personnel are directing traffic and marking downed power lines with yellow caution tape.

As residents begin their property clean up over the weekend, they are being asked to place downed tree limbs on the parkway near the curb edge. Village crews will begin collecting the debris early next week.