As of late Thursday night, July 30, Hinsdale residents near Third Street and Oak and North Street and Vine remained without power for a fifth day. Village President Greg Hart publicly called the situation "unacceptable" and directly tagged ComEd on X with a demand to restore service immediately.
Hart posted the statement to his personal X account at 10:29 p.m. Thursday, marking a clear shift from his earlier, more measured updates in which he reported staying in close contact with ComEd leadership and advocating for faster restoration.
"We have repeatedly been told our remaining major outages would be addressed today. They have not," Hart wrote.
He called on ComEd to prioritize the remaining outages and restore power now, noting that Hinsdale's mature tree canopy and extensive above-ground electric infrastructure left the community particularly hard hit compared to neighboring towns recovering from the same storm.
A timeline of missed promises
The Monday, July 27, storm knocked out power to roughly 1,200 ComEd customers in Hinsdale. Winds hit 70 mph and dumped nearly 3 inches of rain, downing utility wires at nine locations across the village. No injuries were reported.
ComEd initially targeted Wednesday morning, July 29, for 80 to 90 percent restoration. That morning, approximately 600 customers were still dark. ComEd then pushed its target to Thursday morning or midday, July 30. As we reported Wednesday, about 180 homes remained without power by Wednesday afternoon. Thursday's deadline came and went. Hart posted his rebuke at 10:29 p.m.
Village crews filled the gap
While ComEd missed deadlines, village staff responded. The Public Services Department fielded about 60 storm-related calls on July 27, according to The Hinsdalean. By Tuesday, July 28, two woodchippers were running, one on the north side and one on the south side, clearing streets blocked by downed trees.
The storm also cracked windshields on Hinsdale police vehicles and sent water into the public works garage, the Memorial Building, and portions of the police station. The Hinsdale Food Pantry sustained damage as well.
On Fuller and Elm streets, resident Amanda Larry described neighbors wading waist-deep into floodwater with shovels and brooms to unclog storm drains during the storm. One wore fishing waders. Larry said they spent over an hour moving from drain to drain, reaching in to clear debris that kept reclogging the openings.
What residents can do
Households still without power can report outages to ComEd at 1-800-EDISON1. Hart warned Wednesday, July 29, that the July 31 date appearing in ComEd's online outage portal was a generic placeholder that ComEd confirmed was not specific to Hinsdale's remaining outages. As we reported that day, residents should not rely on portal estimates.
No ComEd statement explaining the repeated missed restoration windows was available as of Friday morning.
Next public forum
The Village Board of Trustees is expected to meet Tuesday, Aug. 18, at 7 p.m. at Memorial Hall, 19 E. Chicago Ave., based on the board's third-Tuesday schedule. No agenda has been posted. Check villageofhinsdale.org for confirmation and public comment sign-up details.
