What July’s storms taught Lombard’s public works crews

Between July 2 and 5, Lombard saw four distinct rounds of thunderstorms, straight-line winds, and intense rainfall after soils were already saturated by earlier storms. Village Public Works Director Carl S. Goldsmith’s after-action memorandum to the village president and board recorded total storm-period rainfall of 4.5 inches through the village’s SCADA system, with some area reports as high as 9 inches and peak wind gusts up to 70 mph. Precursor days from June 28 to July 1 brought isolated heavy rain, high humidity, and gusts of 30–45 mph.

Five village pump and lift stations lost utility power or saw fluctuations: North Avenue, Highland Avenue, Route 53, Garfield, and Fairview. On-site generators kept those stations operating. Five other storm stations—Crescent Pond, Grace & Central, Kenilworth Pond, Terrace View Pond, and Vista Pond—still lack permanent standby generators. The village’s 10-year capital plan schedules design for those generators in 2027 and construction in 2028 at an estimated $150,000.

Underground Utilities answered 75 sewer-backup calls during and after the event. Street flooding was limited to isolated spots, including the Main Street viaduct, Parkside and Charlotte, and Finley Road and Roosevelt; water receded after crews cleared inlet debris. Several ponds rose sharply. At Vista Pond the gravity valve at Prairie and Westwood was opened early on July 4 and the pumps were shut off, allowing gravity flow through July 12. Debris blocked the pipe between upper and lower Gatz Pond, causing overtopping. Extended bypass pumping with a village-owned 6-inch Godwin pump and a matching rental unit began July 6–7 and helped return Vista Pond to normal levels by July 12.

Because the damage assessment showed fewer than 75 parkway trees affected in any single zone and fewer than 150 in two adjacent zones, the board’s existing debris policy meant the village did not collect private-tree debris. Instead, staff distributed Waste Management refuse stickers. By the end of July 10, 3,279 stickers had been given out; another roughly 1,400 followed through July 20. At $1.93 each, the total value was $9,204.17. Of the 483 sticker requests, most were for tree damage or flooding; only about 4 percent came from south of Roosevelt Road.

Two work orders tracked the response. One covered 104 debris-related tasks (85 labor hours, $5,666 labor plus $3,869 equipment). The other covered 196 stormwater tasks (484 labor hours at $34,252 and 29 pieces of equipment at $21,214). The memorandum noted that generators minimized disruption, ComEd communication was strong, and an “all hands on deck” approach worked, while heat required extra hydration for crews.

A second, primarily wind-driven storm struck on July 27. Goldsmith’s August 14 memorandum recorded peak gusts in excess of 80 mph. No tornado was identified inside Lombard, though several were reported nearby. Of 22,457 customers in town, an estimated 19,771 were affected. Assessment the afternoon of the storm showed that zones 1 through 5 met the board policy threshold (75 or more parkway trees damaged in one zone or 150 in two adjacent zones). The village therefore collected both public parkway debris village-wide and private-tree debris north of Roosevelt Road. Residents were told to place debris in the parkway by Sunday, August 2; material placed later would not be collected as part of the special effort. Later village updates stated that crews worked roughly 1,500 hours of straight time and 700 hours of overtime and cleared debris from more than 2,500 locations.

On October 29 the board reviewed Village Board Policy 7.C, the storm debris management policy. The cover sheet and accompanying memorandum from Goldsmith noted that the Public Works Committee had already reviewed the policy and recommended no changes or modifications. The current criteria—wind speed above 50 mph measured at Glenbard East and the zone-based tree-damage thresholds—remain in place.

The village’s public drainage and flooding page directs street and right-of-way concerns to Public Works and private-property issues to the private development engineer. The July memos show that the combination of on-site generators, zone thresholds that determine when private debris is collected, sticker distribution when thresholds are not met, and continuous pumping at key ponds kept core systems running and limited the duration of high water. The October policy review left those rules unchanged, so the same framework will govern the next major storm.