Residents in suburban Broadview battle dangerous heat; still without power following Monday's storms
CHICAGO (CBS) – As heat pushes into the evening, people are still without power from Monday's storms – meaning no air conditioning during the dangerous heat.
As of Thursday morning, 73 people still do not have power. Crews are working to restore power amid the heat, according to CBS 2's Meredith Barack.
ComEd expects power to be restored by noon.
Our Asal Rezai reported from suburban Broadview Wednesday night– one of the hardest-hit areas.
Trees down on powerlines are the main problem here and it's why the outages are so scattered. Some neighbors say they never lost power, but it's a different story just across the street where people have been waiting for the lights to come on since Monday.
The streets of Broadview are still littered with debris and downed trees. Kyle Segura walks us through his backyard where trees took out his power lines.
"We have been without power, it came on last night til this morning for a little bit but then they had to obviously remove trees so we're back to power off," he said.
He says he was home when the storm hit and watched from his window as the trees around his home came down.
"All of a sudden I see the tree fall and something hit the window and the wall of the house and I was like oh my god I have to get to the basement this is serious," Segura said.
As we were talking with Segura, ComEd restoration crews began working on the lines behind his house.
Segura says as if dealing with a heat wave and a power outage isn't bad enough, he doesn't have internet -- which means he's unable to work.
"Honestly it's kind of overwhelming because we're working from home so right now I'm just sitting here telling my job I can't work right now because I got to deal with all this," he said.
While crews continue to work on restoring power in Segura's neighborhood. ComEd's outage numbers Wednesday night still showed over 500 customers in Broadview are waiting to get power back.
"My main concern is hopefully we get the AC back just for the dogs otherwise we'll probably have to go to my mom's until we regain power."
Crews are working through the heat to restore power to those still in the dark.
"We're going to have crews, because of the heat wave, we will have crews available around the clock," said Vito Martino, ComEd.
With long shifts, crews say it's critical to rotate shifts while working in dangerously hot conditions.
"We can ensure our crews are hydrated, our crew are taking their breaks appropriately so they can refresh and recharge," Martino said.
ComEd crews tell us that gentleman and other homes by this evening, so he'll be able to get that AC going and finally cool down.
In a statement on Wednesday, Broadview Mayor Katrina Thompson issued a "Local State of Emergency" proclamation in the town's clean-up efforts.
"Monday's storm that slammed into Broadview left extensive tree damage, damage to property, and power outages in residential neighborhoods and the local business district," said Thompson. "Clean-up is going to be expensive for residents, businesses, and the Village of Broadview alike, so the official emergency declaration will make our community eligible for financial assistance to aid our recovery."
The communities of Westchester and Bellwood have also issued emergency declarations following the storms.
