Near-100-degree heat that baked the Chicago area was cited as a factor in the deaths of three Cook County women and blamed for violent weather that downed hundreds of trees and left thousands without power Tuesday.
Wednesday and Thursday are expected to be dangerously hot before relief slides into the region in the form of 70- and 80-degree temperatures, forecasters said.
The bodies of Orra Shanks, 78, from the West Side of Chicago, Sophie Anicki, 79, of Hanover Park, and Lydia Hoehn, in her 50s, from the city’s Northwest Side were found Monday in their homes. Each had ailments that contributed to their deaths, according to autopsies Tuesday by the Cook County medical examiner.
They were believed to be the first heat-related fatalities of the year.
Officials from several Chicago social service agencies said they believed the citywide effort to alert residents to this week’s heat prevented what could have been widespread catastrophe.
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“I think most Chicagoans responded quite well to our warnings about the dangers of extreme heat and humidity,” said city Health Commissioner Dr. Terry Mason.
But Mother Nature didn’t listen, and violent storms across northern Illinois Monday night downed 1,000 power lines, crashed trees into cars and homes and tossed dirt, brush and branches around like confetti, officials said.
In Chicago, the Department of Streets and Sanitation reported the storm caused more than 1,192 “tree emergencies” and broke or temporarily knocked out traffic lights all over the city, according to a department news release.
More than 110,000 customers lacked power at the storm’s peak, with about 32,000 still without electricity Tuesday evening, 7,000 of them within Chicago, said Commonwealth Edison Co. spokesman Tom Stevens. The hardest hit areas were Crystal Lake, Elgin and the city’s North Side.
“ComEd has had its emergency command center open since Saturday. It will remain open now until all the storm service interruptions are restored,” he said. The majority of customers would see service restored by the end of Wednesday while others may have to wait for Thursday, he said.
Shanks died in her home on the 4700 block of West Jackson Boulevard, apparently from lung disease and heat stress, according to the medical examiner’s office.
Worrying about her 78-year-old stepmother in the scorching heat, Valerie Pickett called Shanks on Sunday. After getting no answer, Pickett called again Monday–again no answer. Knowing Shanks lived alone with her German shepherd, Zach, Pickett went to the West Side apartment.
“When I knocked on door, [Zach] started whining,” Pickett, 54, said Tuesday. She knew something was wrong. “When you opened the door, you could smell it right off … What I saw I never want to see again.”
Pickett called her stepmother a “very proud woman, very independent.” She said a nurse came to the house regularly and Shanks had a doctor’s appointment every Monday at Advocate Bethany Hospital.
Pickett said there were no fans on in the house, but the radio was playing.
She said the family tried to help Shanks, but she was stubborn.
“She knew she was a burden on us to a certain extent, but it didn’t matter. She was very independent,” Pickett said.
Hoehn was found dead in her home in the 4800 block of North Troy Street after succumbing to heart disease and heat stress, a medical examiner spokesman said.
Hoehn’s landlord called 911 Monday morning after finding her unresponsive in her apartment, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford. Hoehn had not been heard from in more than a week, and the landlord went to check on her.
Anicki, 79, of the 2000 block of Narcissus Avenue, Hanover Park, died from a combination of heart disease and heat stress.
Lightning lit up the sky Monday night and the winds howled, probably felling a tree onto power lines in the 7900 block of Iowa Street in River Forest. The live wires dangled for two hours, setting afire a nearby garage and home before ComEd turned off the power and firefighters could attack the blaze, fire officials said.
“I know they [ComEd] were very busy last night, but the length of time was not typical,” an exhausted River Forest Fire Chief Jim Eggert said Tuesday afternoon.
Two firefighters were injured, but treated and later released from an area hospital. The house’s occupants were unharmed.
ComEd officials are investigating the River Forest incident to determine if it was properly prioritized, officials said.
In Douglas Park, near 14th Street and California Avenue, more than 45 ash, oak, elm and locust trees–some more than 60-feet tall and 60 years old–snapped, said Adam Schwerner, director of natural resources for the Chicago Park District. A portion of the park was closed to visitors Tuesday.
“This is a major event, a major loss. We’ll be talking about this 10 or 20 years from now. It’s a real setback,” he said.
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