I want to thank and congratulate Mayor Richard Daley’s chief of staff Mr. Ray Orozco and the city of Chicago for the excellent response this week to what could have been a truly catastrophic event.
Along with the rest of the country, I was glued to the coverage of the storm and I was very concerned for the people who were trapped in their cars on Lake Shore Drive. But as some members of the media have begun implying that the city let down its citizens, I am compelled to defend the strategies and decisions made on Feb. 1.
We were warned for two days that this storm was coming and, in particular, about the potential problems facing Lake Shore Drive. It is unfortunate that weather conditions deteriorated as quickly and severely as they did, but to say that the city is responsible or should have to answer for this situation is unfair. If the emergency response teams who managed to see a population of nearly 3 million through the third-largest storm in Chicago history are accountable for the motorists who were trapped overnight, then it seems only fair to hold those motorists accountable for the clearly unwise decision to take their chances and put not only their lives in danger, but those of the crews who had to stay out all night to evacuate them. Or perhaps we can stop trying to blame anyone for the weather and instead congratulate ourselves for showing the rest of the nation how it’s done.
The blizzard may have caused significant inconvenience for many people, but considering what might have been if our city not been as well prepared, I am extremely proud of our city for its handling of this historic event.
— Liz Spittler, Chicago
