Hundreds of Seniors Evacuated after S. Side Power Outage

Chicago Tribune

August 1, 2006

An overnight power outage on the South Side prompted the evacuation of hundreds of senior housing residents from high-rise buildings as the temperature was expected to reach near 100 degrees for a second day in a row.

A Commonwealth Edison underground distribution line failed around 7:30 p.m. Monday, causing about 20,000 people to lose power. Included were the residents of 19 mid- to high-rise buildings, including 11 senior-citizen buildings, authorities and ComEd officials said.

About 350 of the most fragile evacuees were taken to several Chicago hotels, officials said. Another 600 were taken to the nearby McCormick Place convention center, and that number was expected to rise, said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford.

Langford said he did not have a total number of evacuees. ``We're counting them as they come out,'' he said, adding that nine people were transported to hospitals with heat-related illnesses, none serious. 

The outage area was bordered by 32nd Street and Hyde Park Boulevard to the north and south, and Lake Shore Drive and King Drive to the east and west.

The outage occurred in a substation located at 50th Street and South Cottage Grove Avenue. ComEd brought in about 400 feet of new cable to route the electricity around the line that shorted out. The cable was being hooked up and tested at midmorning in the hope that customers can be brought back on line in phases.

Power is expected to be restored to everyone by mid-afternoon, said Fidel Marquez, vice president of governmental affairs at ComEd.

"We have been in constant communications with Commonwealth Edison. They estimate the power will be restored sometime today," Mayor Richard Daley said at a news conference this afternoon.

As of early this afternoon, about 8,000 people in the affected area were still without power, ComEd said.

Asked if the outage was heat-related, Marquez said: "We can't speculate on that. A failure of this type can happen in any kind of weather."

With the mercury expected to approach 100 degrees this afternoon, the Chicago Fire Department ordered the evacuation of at least five senior high-rises, Langford said.

Fifty firefighters went into each building and went door-to-door telling residents they had to leave. They were escorted to waiting CTA buses, which took them to downtown hotels and dormitories. McCormick Place was to be made available, as well.

As firefighters rounded up residents before sunrise, apartment dwellers described the scene as chaotic.

``It's a mess,'' said Lenora Stinson, 47. ``It's a big mess. Everybody's panicking -- they don't know where they're going.''

But Stinson, who was in an 11th floor apartment when the power went out, said firefighters were doing a good job of getting people out of the building, especially the elderly.

Artra M. Thomas, 38, disagreed, saying she had to evacuate herself.

``I'm asthmatic (but) I was able to fend for myself,'' she said, adding that she felt someone should have come to check on her and others with health conditions.

Langford identified the buildings that have been evacuated as the following:
o 4040 S. Lake Park Ave. 
o 3983 S. Lake Park Ave.
o 3939 S. Lake Park Ave. 
o 4131 S. Drexel Ave. 
o 4227 S. Oakenwald Ave.

Some of the buildings are operated by the Chicago Housing Authority and others are privately run.

The evacuations were prompted not only by the potential heat danger but by the lack of fire protection, Langford said. With the electricity out, "the water pumps don't work," he said.

Speaking to reporters at a staging area near 39th Street and Lake Park Avenue at about 5 a.m., city emergency planning Chief Cortez Trotter said he was pleased with the city's response. "We are confident we're getting to people and we're getting to them in time," he said.

A total of 18 city fire companies and 10 suburban fire companies were at the scene this morning assisting in the evacuation and tending to residents.

Police Supt. Phil Cline said he had assigned extra officers to the area from the department's Targeted Response Unit. The officers were stationed at intersections where traffic lights were dark and were providing "extra security" for the neighborhood.

No crimes attributed to the blackout had been reported in the area as of this morning, Cline said.

Dozens of fire trucks, buses and other equipment lined the streets as generators buzzed and firefighters stood watch on the streets. Pallets of bottled water were stacked eight-high in a vacant lot outside the 14-story brick building at 4040 S. Lake Park Ave., which had been evacuated hours earlier.

ComEd spokesman Jeff Burdick said ComEd had used two mobile generators to restore power to about 700 customers in the area, and two more generators were being delivered. ComEd was also setting up four stations in the area to supply ice and water to residents and provide air-conditioned buses.

An excessive heat warning remained in effect for Chicago through 8 p.m. today, with sunny skies expected to boost temperatures to the upper 90s, according to the National Weather Service. Heat index readings, which factor in humidity, could reach as high as 109 in the afternoon.