8-16-2021 5:30pm

Fallen tree leaves 31 homes without power for five hours in Hinkles Wooded Acres

Michael McGinnis Editor

Comed crew member driving equipment by remote control

After a large oak tree almost snapped a wire to an electrical transformer, electrical crews from Comed and tree trimmers from Asplundh had to shut down power Monday afternoon to remove part of the tree and make repairs. The outage was centered near Ray Court in Hinkle's Wooded Acres in northeast Harlem Township. Comed said 31 customers were affected. Power went out about 11:30 a.m. and was restored about 4:30 p.m. Water was also unavailable, since residents in the area use private wells.

The homeowner had already cut up most of the tree after the storm, but one limb was still leaning on the pole. A Comed technician said that if the one wire had broken, power would have gone out immediately. As it was, Comed's outage alert system was able to give residents two hours notice that electricity would be off during repairs.

To reach the repair site, which was among trees between two properties, both Comed and Asplundh used tall, narrow, continuous track equipment controlled by a crew member walking in front of it, not sitting on it.

Comed customers can report outages online or by calling 1-800-EDISON-1 (1-800-334-7661). They can sign up to receive outage notifications and status updates by phone, email, and text.