After a week without power, residents in Homewood’s Southgate neighborhood were feeling relief as lights came back on in most homes by Friday evening. The outage was the result of the EF-1 tornado that passed through Flossmoor, Homewood and Thornton on Monday, July 15.

The Village of Homewood helped with neighbors’ celebrations by bringing two food trucks, bottled water and ice to the Willow School parking lots. Free meals were for residents who, in some cases, lost much of their food when refrigerators and freezers shut down.

Village Manager Napoleon Haney said village staff wanted to show support for residents who had been dealing with the aftermath of the storm and to let them know they were not forgotten.

As she stood in line for a taco, Susan Stromberg said she appreciated the village’s gesture, especially the ice. She said getting through the storm wasn’t bad, but the aftermath had been trying.

“It wasn’t very long. It was just very strong,” she said of the storm. “This is totally new to me. We’ve always had warnings, but this is different. No power. No internet. No TV. No lights.”

And no refrigerator.

“For the first few days, it was peanut butter and jelly,” she said. “It was a little stressful by the second day.”

She said her brother came to help her out, and the power to her home was restored about noon Friday.

Cynthia Ramirez said she was lucky because her father-in-law had a small generator that helped some.

“We were just trying to stay cool with the sprinkler for the kids,” she said. “We were OK. We were just trying to manage as best we could.”

Homewood Events Manager Marla Youngblood, whose back yard on Marshfield was filled with downed trees and patio furniture imported from neighbors’ yards, did not yet have power as of 4 p.m. Friday but neighbors across the street did. She said her husband, Scott, summed up the experience of living with no electricity or internet access.

“He said, ‘We’re living in “Little House on the Prairie” now,’ she said, referring to the 1970s television show about a late-19th century pioneer family. She said rather than spending time on their phones, they spent time talking with each other all week.

The storm resulted in loss of power for several thousand ComEd customers in Homewood and Flossmoor.

Utility trucks converged on the area of Willow Road and Marshfield Avenue Friday, one of the worst hit spots, where downed tree limbs and wires had blocked the road for much of the week.

Friday afternoon, ComEd posted on its Facebook page that 99% of the 430,000 initially affected by outages had their power restored.

At 8 p.m. Friday, the ComEd online outage map was nearly an uninterrupted expanse in Homewood and Flossmoor for the first time since the storm hit. For much of the week it was dotted with icons noting power outage locations and number of customers affected. By Monday, July 22, the ComEd map showed no outages in H-F.

Flossmoor officials noted that at the peak of the outage, 2,500 locations in the village were without power.

Villages clean up debris
Both Homewood and Flossmoor crews are removing storm debris that residents place in the parkways. 

Flossmoor officials asked residents for patience since the cleanup could take several weeks to complete.

“Thank you for your patience as we work to recover from the first tornado to hit our village in recorded history, and a sincere thank you to those who have been helping neighbors and sharing resources throughout this trying week,” officials said.

Homewood officials offered guidelines for public works storm cleanup, which will begin Tuesday, July 23.

• If a tree fell on private property or in your backyard, the village encourages residents to file a homeowners insurance claim. Village staff will not cut or remove trees on private property due to legal liabilities.
• Officials urge residents to get debris to the curb by Tuesday because once crews come through a neighborhood they won’t return.
• Public works crews will pick up debris produced by the storm, including damaged branches and limbs. This cleanup is not intended for landscaping debris, old vegetation or whole tree removals.

“If it’s clearly storm damage, we’re going to get rid of it,” Homewood Public Works Director Joshua Burman said.

Record tornado outbreak
The National Weather Service in Chicago posted an update on its post-storm surveys shortly before 5:30 p.m. Friday. Two more tornadoes had been confirmed, bringing the total for Monday’s derecho to 24, two more than the single-day record of 22 set in 2014.

NWS also documented six tornadoes on July 14, though none hit H-F, bringing the two-day total to 30.

Sirens sounded
Although a few people on local social media pages reported they had not heard warning sirens as the storm approached, Homewood officials confirmed that sirens sounded in the village at 9:16 p.m. Monday. They also noted that Homewood’s sirens are fairly new. They were installed last year. 

Electronic notices went out at 9:14 and 9:16 p.m., according to Homewood Community Engagement Specialist Antonia Steinmiller. She said the village plans a renewed push to urge residents to sign up for emergency alert services.