Resumption of electric service and the return to school in some of the south and southwest suburbs hit hardest by storms brought a return to normalcy for many this week.
As of Monday afternoon, power was restored to all 410,000 ComEd customers who experienced outages after last week’s severe weather, the energy company said. More than 4,500 ComEd workers, contractors and mutual assistance crews were deployed in response to the storms.
In the south suburban neighborhoods hardest hit Aug. 11, crews had to repair extensive transmission system damage before restoring power, according to ComEd. Broken poles, damaged equipment and downed power lines “required complex repairs,” tackled by about 130 crews and five specialized repair teams, Monday’s news release said.
ComEd said it would direct available contractors to northwest Indiana, where thousands remained without electricity.
Several school districts delayed the start of classes due to power outages, damage to facilities and concerns about student safety following the Aug. 11 storm.
Crete-Monee School District 201-U and Thornton Fractional High School District 215 both started class Wednesday. But Homewood-Flossmoor High School still isn’t back in session.
“We had roof damage,” said H-F District 233 Superintendent Jennifer Norrell. “We had some holes in some of the buildings. At one point it was raining, inside, almost, in our auto lab, almost as if we were outside, because there was a tree on the roof.”
Freshmen and new students had been set to begin at H-F Aug. 13, two days after the most recent storm, while all other students would begin Aug. 14, according to the school’s website. Instead, freshmen will have orientation on Aug. 25, and all other students will begin on Aug. 26, according to the school.
Power at the school went out immediately when the storm hit, Norrell said, and electrical wires tangled in trees were visible along Kedzie Avenue, which borders the school property to the west. The safety of students walking to school was also a concern, with many sidewalks rendered impassible by fallen trees and other debris, Norrell said.
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The damage to the school’s heating, ventilating and air-conditioning system was particularly severe, Norrell said, and resulted in some offices flooding.
“The HVAC system was literally kind of ripped up and moved over, which exposed an opening in the roof all the way to the ceiling,” Norrell said. “Water was pouring in.”
Power was fully restored as of Monday, Norrell said. The HVAC remained down until Tuesday.
It’s “80 degrees inside in some places, and maybe warmer, we couldn’t have had kids or adults in the building,” Norrell said. “We definitely know we made a good call in delaying.”
The major repairs have now been completed, Norrell said Wednesday, although some damage to outdoor athletic facilities must still be addressed.
“The freshmen boys dugout was sucked up by the winds from the tornado, it actually went through the tennis fence that was surrounding the tennis courts,” Norrell said. “It’s brand-new fencing, and it ripped a hole, a huge section of it out. We don’t know where the fencing ended up.”
Make up days
Because of the delayed start, District 233 will have to modify its calendar to make up for the lost days, Norrell said. An amended calendar will be voted on at a school board meeting next week, she said, and then submitted to the state for approval.
“It’ll go a couple days longer,” Norrell said. “We were set to end on a Wednesday in June, we’re now going to end on a Friday, so it’s just a couple days at the end. So hopefully there were no vacations planned to start right away on a Thursday.”
The two main elementary and middle school districts that feed into Homewood-Flossmoor High School, Homewood District 153 and Flossmoor District 161, also delayed their starts, Norrell said.
“We communicated ever since the storm hit,” Norrell said. “As the high school district, the most important thing for families is that we don’t bring our kids back, if we can avoid it, before the littles come back, because usually our kids are the babysitters of the family.”
District 153 Superintendent Teresa Hill said the district’s start day was pushed from Wednesday to next Monday. The district is made up of Willow School, Winston Churchill School and James Hart Middle School.
“It’s been quite a summer,” Hill said. “But that really has allowed us, now, we are confident we are ready, all the schools will be open and safe and we know we can get the kids to and from school safely. Of course, that is always the No. 1 priority.”
District 153 will extend the end of its school year by two days, from June 2 to June 4, she said.
Superintendent Terrance Sanders of Flossmoor District 161, which consists of Parker Junior High and Flossmoor Hills, Heather Hill, Serena Hills and Western Avenue elementary schools, said a planned Thursday start was pushed back a week to Aug. 27, in coordination with the high school.
District 161 saw dayslong power outages and significant damage to the surrounding community, Sanders said.
“Most of our families were very relieved to know that we did make the decision to push back school for a week,” Sanders said. “Many of them were without power themselves, and so, you know, they’re dealing with trying to make sure that they’re keeping their families safe.”
His district hasn’t yet decided how to make up the lost days, Sanders said.
Glenwood Academy
Despite Glenwood Academy seeing destruction including holes in roofs and basement water damage, Colleen Carter, president and CEO of the residential school, said staff worked around the clock last week to make sure students could return.
Carter said 20 members of Chicago Pipefitters Local 597 were volunteering Wednesday and Thursday to clear leftover debris.
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Power returned on Aug. 12, Carter said, unveiling more issues than previously thought. But by prioritizing cleaning up the school building and residential cottages, volunteers were able to create a safe environment for students to return to, she said.
Students started classes Monday, which Carter said offered some relief to their families, many of whom continue to deal with storm damage in their communities.
“For many of our families, knowing that their kids were going to be OK — safe, fed, housed, educated — they were then able to focus on what they needed to focus on, getting their own homes together,” she said.
Governor declaration
After mounting pressure from state and local officials, Gov. JB Pritzker Tuesday declared a state emergency over this year’s record-breaking storms, including tornadoes that swept through the south and southwest suburbs July 27 and Aug. 11.
“Local resources and capabilities in the affected counties and communities have been exhausted, and state resources are needed to assist responding to and recovering from the effects of this disaster including protecting public health and safety and lessening or averting the threats of more severe and lasting harm,” the disaster proclamation read.
The emergency declaration is required before officials seek federal aid from storms between July 2 and Aug. 16. It says so far this year, Illinois has seen 204 confirmed tornadoes, the most of any state. It named 15 Illinois counties including Cook, Will and DuPage.
A spokesperson Wednesday said Pritzker’s office had to wait for damage assessments to be completed from all storms before finalizing the proclamation.
Cook County Board member and Democratic nominee for Illinois’ 2nd Congressional District Donna Miller thanked the governor for taking the important step toward relief and recovery.
“At a time when the cost of gas, groceries and other everyday items are at an all-time high, thousands of Illinoisans are trying to figure out how they are going to cover the unexpected expense of property damage, spoiled food, lost wages and cleanup,” Miller said in a news release.
Acknowledging President Donald Trump’s past denials of appeals for federal assistance from Democratic-led states, Miller said she hopes the coming together of municipal leaders will “emphasize the federal government’s responsibility to all victims of natural disasters no matter where they live.”