Sophia Elie couldn’t stop talking about the prized possession she lost Tuesday during the electrical outage that knocked out power in thousands of homes across the Chicago area.
“My Popsicles melted,” said the 18-year-old Oak Park resident. “I opened the Popsicles, and the entire thing collapsed on me.”
Then she thought about some other household items at risk. “Oh yeah, the computer,” she said. “I was on the Internet, and it just went out.”
Her sister, Vernicia, 21, said two-thirds of their house lost electricity throughout the night. It came back on in the morning for about an hour and then was out again. “The whole house” this time.
At a Walgreens in Oak Park, store workers were packing up eggs, orange juice, hot dogs and pizza. “Throwing it all away,” employee Kyle Alfred said. “Won’t take no chances.”
———-
plthompson@tribune.com
