Resident with no power for 5 days asks why businesses restored first
BY DARRYL HOLLIDAY Staff Reporter/dholliday@suntimes.com July 16, 2011 8:02PM
Jack Ludford works to start a generator Saturday as he and his wife, Rose Ann, wait for power to be restored to their Lake Villa home. | Keith Hale~Sun-Times
Updated: July 17, 2011 2:24AM
As the last 5,000 ComEd customers waited to have their power restored Saturday — five days after major storms left 850,000 in the dark — some were still smarting because it has taken so long.
“The businesses got their power back long before we did,” said Don Sutton, 59, whose home in unincorporated Venetian Village in Lake County went back on line Friday night. Most of those who had to wait for electricity until late in the week — or still had no power Saturday — were in Lake County.
“I’m not happy with their performance. I don’t think they care very much about the people who pay their bills,” he said.
ComEd President and CEO Frank Clark said the 5,000 homes without power in towns including Gurnee, Zion and Lindenhurst would be restored by Saturday night.
Though several businesses in nearby Lindenhurst got their power back Tuesday night, they still suffered financial losses and other hardships.
Falling debris caused “substantial damage” at RJ’s eatery, where wind-tossed trees littered the restaurant’s patio, manager Kelli Clark said. She estimated the restaurant lost thousands of dollars in income because it was closed until power was restored Tuesday night.
At the CVS in Lindenhurst, “We were one of the first ones back on,” manager Rick Turko said, but the store lost $3,000 to $5,000 worth of dairy products because power was out.
Some Lake Villa still without power Saturday were taking it in stride. “Your patience runs very thin,” said Rose Ann Ludford, 78.
“But we’re campers,” countered her husband, Jack, 80. He filled up a gas canister three times at $28 a pop to fuel a generator.
Some residents actually went camping or stayed in a hotel, neighbors said.
Cully LaFarge, a neighbor, spent much of her time without electricity gardening and visiting with friends.
“I think they’ve done a great job,” she said of ComEd. “Getting upset won’t make it any better.”
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