The Village of Park Forest is in the process of recovering following the intense storms that swept through the area late on Monday night, leaving behind a trail of debris and fallen tree branches. Many residents are currently without power due to the storm's impact.

Park Forest officials thank residents for pitching in and helping clean up. Public Works Director Roderick Ysaguirre said it is essential for residents to know how to respond appropriately after a natural disaster. 

"When you have severe weather like we did last night, it's expected to have trees or parts of trees scattered throughout," Ysaguirre said. "With the tree damage, you're bound to have power outages and lines down - so we want residents to know who to contact when they come across things like that."

Ysaguirre said if you encounter downed wires that are sparking, call 911. Then, he said to follow up with ComEd by calling 1-800-EDISON1. Even if the power is out in your neighborhood, Ysaguirre cautioned that any downed wire, sparking or not, could be live and you do not want to touch them.  So again, call ComEd to get a work order ticket issued for your outage.  Lastly, you should contact NICOR if you smell or suspect a gas leak.

Ysaguirre recommends that residents contact the Public Works department if they encounter fallen trees or branches in areas owned by the Village, such as parkways. If the fallen tree or branch is on private property, individuals are advised to contact a professional tree removal company or a lawn service that offers tree removal services.

"If residents could pick up all tree debris and tree branches smaller than four inches in diameter and utilize their weekly lawn waste collection service, that would be great," Ysaguirre said. "Public Works and Parks staff could then focus on tree debris and branches larger than four inches in diameter and collect that for residents since this was a severe weather event."