VIDEO: Public works crews clear a downed tree that included a bald-faced hornet’s nest with the disoriented hornets still entering and exiting the nest. See an aggressive, fully-functioning bald-faced hornet’s nest below.
Storm cleanup is winding down, but all the work is not completed. Firefighters were still chasing some reports of sparking lines and power-related issues Saturday night and Sunday.
All departments of public works were working in the forestry department the past couple of days. At Haddow Avenue and Hawthorne Street, where a tree was blown down at the base during the storm, a bald-faced hornet’s nest hit the ground. The hornets were disoriented, but public works crews subdued them with hornet spray hours before they arrive to removed the tree. Then they hit the nest again with a heavy dose of hornet spray foam, and fed the nest to the Mobark chipper along with the rest of the tree. Both ComEd crews and public works crews keep a can of hornet spray on hand in their vehicles.
As of 8:30 p.m. there are only about ten customers remaining without power south and east of Euclid Avenue and Dryden Avenue., according to the ComEd power outage map …
www.comed.com/_layouts/comedsp/OutageMap.aspx
670 crews continue to work to restore customers. If you're out, visit http://t.co/oPo3QhE545 to check your status. pic.twitter.com/qCUTHHgOFC
— ComEd (@ComEd) September 7, 2014
At 8:35 p.m. ComEd reported the following statistics for local communities in the northwest suburbs near Arlington Heights …
Arlington Heights
Less than five customers without power
Des Plaines
Less than 5 customers were without power
Elk Grove Village
No customers without power
Hoffman Estates
80 customers were without power
Mount Prospect
Less than 5 customers were without power
Palatine
355 customers were still without power
Prospect Heights
27 customers were without power where a lineman was shocked while working to restore power near Elm and WIllow
Rolling Meadows
Less than 5 customers were without power
Schaumburg
149 customers without power in
Wheeling
No customers without power
Arlington Heights announced their plan for helping residents clear private tree branches that were damage by the storm Friday.
From the Village of Arlington Heights …
“On September 5th, 2014 a strong line of storms moved through the Arlington Heights area between 2:45pm and 3:00pm. The storm produced widespread wind gusts of 55 to 80 miles per hour in addition to heavy downpours. Rainfall amounts for this storm were between the .50” and .75”.
In response to this severe thunderstorm, The Village of Arlington Heights will be performing a private tree branch and limb pick-up beginning the morning of Monday, September 15, 2014 to aid residents in their clean-up efforts. The Village thanks residents in advance for their patience and cooperation as the pick-up program could take up to 6 weeks to complete. The Village will only make one pass through town so residents should make sure all branches are brought to the curb by the morning of September 15th, 2014. In order to perform this operation efficiently, the following guidelines must be followed:
• Branches shall be stacked in a neat and orderly pile on the parkway with cut-ends facing the street.
• Under no circumstance should branch piles be taller than 2 feet in height.
• Branches shall be left as long as possible. This makes them easier and safer to chip.
• Branches should not block the sidewalks. If they do not fit into the parkway, please place them parallel to the road with cut ends facing away from oncoming traffic.
Root balls and material from bushes and plants will not be accepted. This program is intended for storm damaged tree limbs and branches only.
For program efficiencies, The Village will not rake parkways clean and will only pick up large branches. We are respectively requesting residents to clean up the small leaves and twigs that may be left behind on the parkway from our emergency brush collection. Residents should use Groot’s landscape program for small twigs and leaves.
Anyone that will be utilizing contractual assistance for private property trees should have their contractors dispose of the material. The more material left on the parkway, the longer our efforts will take. We appreciate your cooperation throughout this operation.
Commonwealth Edison Update
As of 1:00pm on September 6th, 7,000 electrical services (out of 17,000 originally affected) were still without power. Commonwealth Edison has 20 crews currently working in the area with more crews responding throughout the day. Commonwealth Edison has estimated that 80% of services will be restored tonight and all services will be restored by 11:00pm Sunday.
Commonwealth Edison is encouraging residents to call in all power outages so that they can accurately assign crews to affected areas. Please call 1-800-Edison1 to report an outage. Village staff will continue to coordinate with Commonwealth Edison to ensure all power concerns are addressed. ”
Bald-Faced Hornet nest …
VIDEO: Up close to dangerous Bald-Faced Hornets.
Bald-Faced Hornet stings are much more painful than yellow jacket stings or honeybee stings. They have less tolerance for people who approach their nest — sometimes they attack when an unsuspecting human walks within 20 feet of their nest. Their nests can be located high up in a tree or soffit area or about two feet above the ground in shrubs. There are also reports that they are unforgiving and continue to attack even when you leave the area of their disturbed nest. Multiple stings are common during confrontations with Bald-Faced Hornets.
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