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89.7 Jack FM WRHS Norridge radio reports said Harwood Heights, Norridge and Park Ridge were directly on the path of a tornado and a severe thunderstorm on the evening on Monday, August 4, 2008. During that evening, over 100 pages of watches and warnings were issued on the air by Kevin Szaflik. It all began at 7:19 PM, when a Severe Thunderstorm Watch Box was upgraded to a Severe Thunderstorm Warning. The Emergency Alert System was activated on 89.7 Jack FM WRHS Norridge as well as many other local radio and television stations. At 7:48 PM, a Tornado Warning was issued for Central Cook County in Northeast Illinois. 89.7 Jack FM WRHS Norridge uses Color Radar Weather from HELL, Skytracker, TrueView, Mike Singer’s Weather Watcher 5.625, Weather Bug 6.07, EmergencyEmail.org, Norridge’s Connect-CTY with reports from the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System, Comcast’s EAS system and the National Weather Service. It is the most comprehensive set of tools using the area’s most powerful radar. Using all these tools, Szaflik plotted that the tornado would be by Bensenville, Schiller Park, Franklin Park and Northlake by 7:55 PM and Melrose Park and Park Ridge by 8:00 PM. Those towns are on the fringe of WRHS Jack FM reception, so it would only be a matter of time before the storm was over Norridge and Harwood Heights. Up until that point, the weather bulletins and EAS warnings were interspersed with normal Jack FM music programming. 89.7 FM WRHS Norridge has several levels of alerts based on priority. There are six priority levels with up to two messages per level. Once all 12 messages are active, the disc jockey can upgrade the situation for 13 or more messages. It is similar to the Associated Press 10 bell system on their teletype tickers. Szaflik pre-empted music for a 13 bell emergency alert. Szaflik’s concerns were confirmed when at 8:00 PM, the National Weather Service plotted that the tornado would be near Norridge, Harwood Heights and Park Ridge by 8:05 PM. At 8:02 PM, Szaflik temporarily lost Norridge remote control of the radio station, but the software kept reading the warnings without his direct control. At 8:03 PM, Norridge remote control returned, and Szaflik decided to evacuate the station. This was the second time in a year that 89.7 FM WRHS Norridge has been evacuated. Simultaneous evacuations at O’Hare airport ticket terminals and Wrigley Field also occurred. At 8:05 PM, power was lost at the Norridge remote location and would stay off into the next day, but power remained on at Ridgewood High School and 89.7 FM WRHS Norridge never stopped broadcasting. With no Com Ed power, only Skytracker, TrueView, and Norridge’s Connect-CTY would still work. At 8:17 PM, Norridge’s Connect-CTY system was activated. It said, “The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for the Norridge area. The Village has sounded the early warning siren and we are urging you to take cover in your basement or in a room away from windows now. It is advisable to turn on your local TV or radio channel for more information. Once again, the National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for the Norridge area. Please take cover now.” At 8:45 PM, with the power still off at the remote Norridge location, Szaflik took control of the station from a location in Harwood Heights. At 8:54 PM, Norridge’s Connect-CTY system issued a message, “The National Weather Service has cancelled the tornado warning for the Norridge area. Please turn to your local T.V. or radio channel for any additional watches or warnings. Public Works will be out in the area checking on downed branches, trees or flooding problems.” After airing the “All Clear” and “Tornado Warning – Cancel” messages for several minutes, music programming returned to 89.7 FM at 9:05 PM. Thanks to the advance warnings on 89.7 FM WRHS Norridge, there were no reports of injuries in the village of Norridge. The storm was reminiscent of the one on Thursday, August 23, 2007. Since that past year, WRHS Norridge has greatly improved its remote and weather capabilities. As of 9:00 AM on Wednesday, the even side of Osceola in Norridge; Olcott Avenue; portions of Lawrence in Harwood Heights are still without power. Power returned to portions of Northlake at around 2 PM Tuesday. Monday night storms bring strong winds, power outagesStrong storms rumbled through the Chicago area at 60 miles per hour Monday night August 4, 2008. Clouds associated with the storm topped out at 67,000 feet, according to the National Weather Service. A wind gust of 94 miles per hour was recorded at the Harrison Crib in Lake Michigan, registering at the high end of wind speeds in a Category One hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Sustained 90 mph winds were reported in Kane County. Tornado sirens sounded in Norridge, Harwood Heights and Norwood Park Township. In the area, the sirens are following by a verbal warning to take shelter immediately. No "all clear" sirens are used, following a Cook County directive. "We followed NORCOM's orders in Leyden to sound the alarms," said Norwood Park Fire Chief Kevin Stenson. "Our timing was pretty good. I walked outside the firehouse (7447 West Lawrence Avenue), and five minutes later a big black wall of storm clouds came through." Mark Braun, of Norridge, and his wife took their dog and sought shelter in their basement. To Braun's amazement, neighbors on either side of their home stayed outside and watched the storm. "They have cell phones, not landlines, and they didn't get the village's warning phone call," Braun said. Cell phones can get messages from the village's Connect-CTY system, but their users must register their numbers with Village Hall, said Village Clerk Judith Dunne Bernardi. In Norridge, police coped with false alarms caused by power surges. The police department's alarm board malfunctioned at 9:45 PM and remained out until 10:15 PM, when technicians from AT & T brought it back on line, said Deputy Police Chief Jim Jobe. "We had two cars involved in a small flood at Octavia and Berteau," Jobe said. "But the water went down quickly, and the owners were able to get their cars out of there shortly after midnight. A sewer cover was blown off at Montrose and Overhill, and the traffic lights went out at Lawrence and Canfield." Harwood Heights Mayor Margaret Fuller reported a tree fell on a van at 4423 North Sayre Avenue. There were downed ground wires in the village, too -- at 5124 North Harlem Avenue and at Lawrence and Oriole avenues. Harwood Heights police officers blocked off the flooded intersection at Oketo and Wilson avenues. The traffic signal at Nagle Avenue and Gunnison Street went out. An estimated 500,000 people were affected by power outages throughout the city and suburbs, ComEd reported. In Harwood Heights, 311 customers were affected in the area from West Foster Avenue to West Sunnyside Street, as well as the 6400, 6500 and 7500 blocks of Gunnison and the 4700 blocks of Newland, New England and Newcastle avenues, said Lt. Larry Maraviglia, of the Harwood Heights Police Department. Harwood Heights businesses experiencing power outages include Elliott's Dairy, Butera's and E & D Citgo, Maraviglia said, adding, "ComEd says 20 customers in Norridge, 1,427 customers in Chicago and one customer in Norwood Park Township are also potentially affected." Article written by Wynn Koebel Foster on Tuesday, August 5th, for the Thursday, August 7, 2008 issue of the Pioneer Press Norridge and Harwood Heights News and online at http://www.pioneerlocal.com/norridge/news/1092131,no-stormstuff-080508-s1.article. Used with permission.
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Tune in to 88.1 FM WRWX Harwood Heights starting on Tuesday. You can hear a rebroadcast of Coach Zack and then listen to the football game as the Ridgewood Rebels played in Galesburg, Illinois on Saturday, September 12, 2009 on 89.7 FM WRHS Norridge; 1590 AM WAIK Galesburg and online at
