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Alsip officials detail storm response after three-day surge of emergency calls
Summary
Village leaders and the fire chief reported roughly 120 calls over three days after a severe storm, highlighted rapid street clearance and mutual-aid support, and urged staff to save receipts for potential FEMA or county reimbursements.
Alsip village leaders on June 15 summarized emergency operations after a severe storm that caused downed wires, localized flooding and property damage across the village.
Mayor Ryan thanked public-works crews, police, fire personnel and volunteers, and said department heads should save receipts and log overtime so the village can seek reimbursement if federal or state disaster aid becomes available. "Save all your receipts, monitor all your overtime," the mayor said, noting Cook County emergency-management staff advised documentation for future reimbursement requests.
Fire Chief Suzinski told trustees the department handled an unusually large volume of calls: about 61 calls between the late-afternoon storm and midnight and roughly 43 calls the following day, with other days adding to an estimated three-day total near 120 calls. "We did roughly 120 calls which is about 12 or 13 days of normal call," the chief said, describing many calls as wires down, gas leaks and two structure fires. Mutual aid and tactical station separation helped manage the surge, he said.
Public works reported clearing every blocked street in the village in under six hours on the night of the storm and said contractors and the Illinois Public Works Mutual Aid network were assisting with tree removals and debris cleanup. The village also activated generators at village hall to maintain critical services.
The board discussed post-incident coordination: Chief Suzinski proposed a postmortem to identify lessons learned and Mayor Ryan said the village will convene departments again once immediate recovery staffing eases. The mayor also noted the village attorney recommended temporarily increasing certain budget line items now and then seeking reimbursement later if aid is awarded.
Next steps: trustees will schedule a post-incident review with department heads and monitor state or federal reimbursement opportunities; no formal emergency declaration beyond operational steps was adopted at this meeting.
