More than 50% of residents of south suburban Harvey were still without power Friday morning, several days after severe weather swept through the area.
ComEd and out-of-state crews were working daily to repair and replace utility poles that snapped in half during Monday's storms, but the severe weather left widespread destruction throughout the city, snapping its main transmission line in half as far as the eye can see.
Some roads also remained impassable as of Friday morning, and the power outages mean spoiled food and no air conditioning for many residents. Some said they've never seen things this bad.
"This is just another major setback for a city that’s trying to get back on its feet," Darren Willis said, noting, "the lady at the end of the block, she’s on oxygen… They got generators going but we do need some type of assistance out here."
In addition to fear for the sick and elderly, food safety is a major concern of residents now as food in refrigerators and freezers is starting to go bad without power for days.
"I don’t know what we’re going to do," Evoice Bonds said. "Water, we’re trying to find ice. We can’t find ice. Had to go over to Riverdale for ice just to try to save the food.”
"We can’t just uproot and go to a hotel," Nicole Harrington said. "We need help! So hopefully this brings attention and awareness to what’s going on."
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ComEd said the goal was to have as much power restored this weekend, but noting that it could be much longer for the areas hardest hit.
Anyone who spots a downed power line, or has to report an outage, is asked to call ComEd at 1-800-EDISON (1-800-334-7661). Spanish-speaking customers should call 1-800-95-LUCES (1-800-955-8237).
