UPDATED: Huntley Dealing with Power Outage

UPDATED: The village of Huntley reports power has been restored to 2,369 ComEd customers. ComEd is working to restore power to 166 remaining customers. If you know of someone who does not have power and lives alone, contact the Huntley Police Department at 847-515-5311 to request a well-being check.

Longtime Dairy Mart employee Nick DeBartolo kept himself busy Tuesday afternoon during a second day of a power outage that affected Huntley.

He and Jennifer Moerke had to turn away customers looking for a quick lunch or an ice cream cone. A generator behind the building kept the inventory cold.

Dairy Mart had two freezers and a walk-in cooler packed with things that owner Steve Grechis was trying to keep during the outage.

While the ice cream was cold, the restaurant could not sell anything, DeBartolo said.

“It’s a health department thing. If there’s no power or water, you can’t open,” he said.

McDonald’s and many restaurants downtown, including the Parkside Pub, were closed. A sign on the Parkside Pub said it would open at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

The outage resulting from Monday’s summer storm affected 1,522 local ComEd customers. Power was restored to some areas Monday afternoon, but 959 customers remained without out power Tuesday, according to a release from the village of Huntley.

ComEd initially told officials that power would not be restored until Sunday, but Barb Read, village administrative secretary, said several subdivisions, including Talamore, the Highlands and Covington Lakes, had power restored Tuesday afternoon.

“Knock on wood, we are feeling quite confident it won’t take as long as they originally said this morning,” Read said.

She was waiting to get more information on how many households still were affected Tuesday afternoon and how long it would be to restore power to those areas. A portion of the downtown had power restored by 3 p.m.

For those without power, Village Hall, 10987 Main St., will serve as a cooling center for those affected. 

Other cooling centers:

The Huntley Park District Recreation Center, 12015 Mill St. There are shower facilities available.

The Huntley Area Public Library, 11000 Ruth Road, is not an official cooling center but it has electricity. It also is a place to charge cell phones or computers. The library is open until 8 p.m. during the week.