ComEd: Storm ‘Worst in a Decade’ for Outages

Commonwealth Edison officials said the severe weather that swept through Chicagoland early Monday morning was the “worst in a decade” in terms of its impact on service.

At the storm’s peak, more than 850,000 customers systemwide were affected, the company said Wednesday in a release. Spokesman Tony Hernandez said due to the severity of the storm, the timeline for fully restoring power was "a multiday scenario.”

As of 4 a.m. Thursday, 106,000 homes and businesses were still without power, and 744,000 customers had been restored, the Chicago Tribune reports. Most of the remaining outages are in the north and northwest suburbs.

Power was initially expected to be restored to 90 percent of affected customers by midnight Thursday, and 99 percent by midnight Friday.

By Wednesday morning, ComEd was still reporting as many as 3,000 residents in its Joliet region, which includes Lemont and Lemont Township, were still without power. As of Thursday morning, however, most power had been restored.

At its peak, Lemont reported as many as 900 customers affected by the storm. Several businesses were forced to close Monday, including Nancy's Pizza and Jewel-Osco, as well as the Lemont Park District.

“We recognize that power outages disrupt the lives and businesses of our customers,” said Anne Pramaggiore, president and chief operating officer for the company. “ComEd crews are working hard to restore service to customers affected by the storm as quickly and safely as possible.”

Nearly 800 crews remain in the field Thursday working to restore service to the hardest-hit areas, according to the Tribune. The widespread outages prompted ComEd to request mutual assistance from crews in neighboring states, the company said.

In the release, ComEd blamed the outages on the more than 18,000 strikes of lightning and high winds gusts up to 80 mph to  that caused extensive damage to trees and brought down power lines.

Lemont Police Cmdr. Dan Tully said no injuries were reported following Monday’s storm, but and  in parts of the village.

ComEd offered the following suggestions for customers experiencing a prolonged outage:

• Turn off all appliances including your furnace, water heater, and water pump.
• Leave a lamp on so you can know when power has been restored.
• Keep freezer and refrigerator doors closed and open them only when necessary. Food will stay frozen for 36 to 48 hours in a fully loaded freezer, if the door remains closed. A half-full freezer will generally keep food frozen for 24 hours.
• Customers who are on medical support equipment are strongly encouraged to evacuate to a place where they can be comfortable and safe.