Homewood, IL
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A Message from Mayor Rich Hofeld
"No one expected the severity of Monday’s storm, which has now been listed as an EF-1 tornado. After the storm passed, most of my front yard’s 50-year-old tree had blown down, blocking my driveway and the front of my house. Luckily there was no damage to the roof, only the gutters. My son, friends, and neighbors with chain saws helped get the debris to the parkway so I could get my car out of the garage. I was able to drive to the Police Department where I spent several hours riding with officers responding to service calls and to survey damage throughout town. I had thought that my side of town was severely “hit,” but it couldn’t compare with the storm damage elsewhere – particularly north of Ridge Road.
Our Public Works crews all responded and have put in long, grueling hours, as have the Police and Fire Departments. Our staff’s response has been terrific – dedicated, caring, hard-working men and women.
Approximately half of Homewood was without power and I was continuously in touch with our ComEd representative. Critical areas are always to be addressed first, sewage lift stations, water plants, Fire, Police, and Public Works facilities, senior facilities, and those with medical conditions necessitating power connections. ComEd has a list of these; however, the intensity of the storm, with many trees atop power lines and destroyed poles, changed that. Many critical areas remained dark or with minimal generator-produced power, or no power for days.
Tuesday, I spoke with the mayors of surrounding towns, some of which had homes that had even more structural damage than we had – missing roofs and walls. Usually we can all assist one another, sending work crews to help, but with the heavy wind damage we were all “on our own.” We couldn’t send any crews, nor could they. We did call in outside contractors to assist in our efforts.
Outside help came in from other agencies. Napoleon Harris, our State Senator and Thornton Township Supervisor, offered work crews and equipment to assist Public Works crews. Governor Pritzker called and said that the State’s Emergency Management Services would be made available to Homewood. He asked to be kept informed of critical needs. Our ComEd representative said more outside-of-the-area crews were being dispatched to Homewood, but it wasn’t enough. In the hardest hit areas, I saw Appalachian Power, Peach Power, and other out of the area contractors at work. The power was slowly being restored, but the restoration work was monumental. Traffic signals remained out and critical areas were still off the grid.
Wednesday, County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s office called and I arranged a tour of the town so she could view the damage and get a better perspective of the enormity of damage, in hopes that she would issue an Emergency Declaration for Homewood. This would enable homeowners to receive County services and give the Village financial reimbursement for the emergency work crews. I took Toni Preckwinkle, County Commissioners Kisha McCaskill and Donna Miller, and their Emergency Service Teams on tour that afternoon. They were overwhelmed at the damage they saw. Telling someone of the destruction is one thing – seeing it is another! That is why taking them, letting them see firsthand, is what is important!
I received calls from Berkot’s offering supplies and Mi-Jack offering equipment. Senator Michael Hastings came out and offered additional State assistance. I spent half an hour in an in-person meeting with our ComEd representative where we both tried to expedite power restoration efforts. Her frustration with the time that this was taking was the same as mine.
Wednesday also necessitated a conference call with the out-of-town investors of Freedom Village (senior apartments) to have better services (generators and lighting) put in place. They agreed to pursue it and I asked that they contact our Fire Chief, Bob Grabowski, to coordinate efforts as to sizing and placement.
Thursday, our Village Manager Napoleon Haney and I met with the Illinois Director of Emergency Management. A meeting that was attended and had been arranged by State Representative Will Davis.
ComEd continues their work, and because of the almost complete destruction of their Homewood grid, restoration still continues. They have said full service should be completed by Friday. In the months after cleanup has been completed, we shall be having some very serious talks with ComEd.
We have had natural disasters in the past; tornado touch downs in smaller areas, flooding, blizzards, and heat alerts, but I have never seen as much damage as we have had from this storm. Thankfully no lives were lost, there were no serious injuries and property damage could have been a lot worse. I’m appreciative to our services, Public Works, Fire and Police Departments, and our Village staff for all of their dedication, hard work, and kindness; our businesses for pitching in with services and contributions. And I’m especially proud of all of you; looking out for and helping your neighbors and working tirelessly to remove storm damage. We are the best – we are Homewood."