Tillman: Storm damage resembles `war zone'

After damage by winds as high as 88 m.p.h. - winds so powerful they uprooted old trees, blowing them onto the tops of houses, and cars - Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd), who was joined by the city's top brass, Sunday said parts of her ward resembled a "war zone."

Tillman asked for federal emergency funds to help clean up and completely restore the services that were knocked out as a result of two days of very stormy weather.

According to Roderick Drew, a mayoral aide, city officials will meet today with state authorities including representatives from the governor's office to tour the damaged areas "to see if they will ask for federal funding."

Over the holiday weekend, some of Chicago's neighborhoods like the areas in Tillman's ward around 51st and Princeton and 45th and Marshfield, known as the Back-Of-The-Yards community, were dotted with police cars and a bevy of downed live electrical wires.

Inspecting the damage with Tillman were: Cortez Trotter, director of Chicago's Emergency Management and Communications System (OEMC), Police Supt. Terry Hillard, and ComEd President/CEO Frank Clark who told the Chicago Defender across Illinois more than 140,000 customers lost their services with the bulk, or 50,000, in Rockford. As of Sunday, however, 90 percent of the services had been restored.

Tillman was also joined by John Hooker, president of ComEd who said that restoring services which would normally have been a two-and-a-half day job, is being accomplished with Tillman were Chicago Fire Department Commissioner James Joyce, Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Al Sanchez, Ron Carlson, of the Illinois Emergency Management, and many others.

Clark told the ??? "We got it [the number ??? services] down from ??? 70,000, but [Sunday's] ??? resulted in the loss ??? another 40,000 customers. ??? said as of Sunday, there are between 80,000 to 90,000 without service including 20,000 (across Northern Illinois) from the last wave of storms.

Photograph (A home damaged in storm)