Lake County Storm Response And Recovery

Response and recovery efforts continue countywide as a result of the severe storms and straight-line winds that impacted Lake County and adjoining counties on Monday, July 11.

Kent McKenzie, emergency management coordinator with the Lake County Illinois EMA, provided the following updates Thursday afternoon:

 1.    Commonwealth-Edison (ComEd) continues to work to restore power to critical facilities, repair primary feeder circuits, and restore service to customers. ComEd has brought in several hundred contract crews from other utility companies across the country, some as far away as Georgia, to help in the restoration effort.

ComEd’s stated objective is to restore electric service to all customers as quickly and safely as possible. The most recent ComEd’s target for restoration is to have 99 percent of outages in Lake County restored by midnight Friday, July 15.

 2.    Residents that have experienced damage to the overhead or underground electric wires connected directly to their homes should be aware that some parts of the final service connection are their responsibility rather than ComEd’s, and it may be necessary for those individuals to hire an electrical contractor to make repairs before their power can be restored. More information about customer responsibility is available on the ComEd website at https://www.comed.com/sites/customerservice/Pages/responsibility.aspx.

 3.    Residents who are using standby generators should be sure to do so carefully. There have been multiple reports of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by generators being used unsafely. Portable generators should not be operated inside any part of a home or business, in an attached garage or storage area, in a basement or crawl space, on a porch or deck, or near windows or air intakes. People using generators should make sure they have a working battery-operated carbon monoxide detector in their home or business to provide warning of dangerous carbon monoxide levels.

 4.    With the extended power outages, food safety continues to be a significant concern. The Lake County Health Department has provided detailed information about the safety of refrigerated or frozen foods during power outages. If power was out to a freezer or refrigerator for more than 48 hours, then it is unlikely that any of the contents of that unit are safe for consumption.

 5.    If you’ve lost food as a result of the power outage, be sure to review your insurance policy. Many homeowners and renters insurance policies include coverage for food spoilage costs related to a power outage. If you are unsure of whether or not your homeowners insurance or renters insurance policy covers you for food loss, you should contact your local agent or broker.

 6.    A few communities in Lake County have experienced interruptions in their water supply infrastructure, and boil-orders have been issued in those jurisdictions. The Health Department has also provided information about the safety of potable water.

Editor's Note: This does NOT apply to Grayslake. There were water restrictions issued this week, but those have been lifted as power to the water pumping station was restored.

Lake County appreciates the tireless work of the many hundreds of employees and volunteers from all our local units of government to begin returning our communities to a more-normal condition. We understand how frustrating the widespread damage and extended utility outages can be, and we appreciate the patience that’s been shown by most residents.

Check back to Grayslake Patch for more storm coverage information.