The Aurora area continues to clean up as strong storms have hit the region over the past few days.
The city of Aurora’s Public Works Department and Street Maintenance Division are continuing to lead recovery efforts following multiple rounds of storms that hit the area on Thursday and Friday, according to a statement from the city on Saturday morning.
Crews are still conducting large sweeps of the city as part of the clean-up process, with most of the storm damage concentrated in Wards 4 and 6, city officials said.
Teams are clearing right-of-way storm damage and are coordinating with ComEd as power is restored so that more work areas are deemed safe for clean-up, Aurora officials said.
Residents can use the myAurora 311 app, available on the App Store and Google Play, or go to www.myaurora311.com to file a ticket for downed branches or limbs placed on the parkway, according to a Facebook post from the city on Friday.
Fox Valley Park District officials said the dog park at Stuart Sports Complex in Montgomery received extensive flooding due to the storms.
Officials on Saturday morning said the Gilman Trail is impassable and closed near the Edgelawn Avenue east trailhead due to flooding. The trail is closed between Terry Avenue and Edgelawn.
Dozens of trees across the park district are either down or damaged due to lightning and wind, officials said. Much of the damage was done on the west side of Aurora and Montgomery, especially in the Fox River corridor, according to the park district.
The district urges residents who see something amiss to report it through the See.Click.Fix app by downloading it and typing in your location – you must be within Fox Valley Park District boundaries – to access the FoxTrax portal. Otherwise, residents can send an email to fvpd@fvpd.net to report an issue, officials said.
“We had a rinse and repeat of our district evaluation and cleanup efforts Saturday morning,” said Tim Wagner, public relations and content strategist for the Fox Valley Park District, on Saturday. “Our Operations staff is completing the arduous task of scouring the district for issues and potential hazards, focusing on high-traffic areas, such as community centers, parks and trails. The process could take several days, depending what’s discovered out there.”
The storms also caused Aurora to reschedule its fireworks show planned for Friday night, July 3, at RiverEdge Park and McCullough Park, to Friday, July 10.
City officials said the decision was made Friday after conversations between the Aurora Police Department, Aurora Fire Department and city leadership, according to a press release.
In the release, officials said keeping visitors safe is the top priority for the fireworks event. With a high probability of more thunderstorms Friday evening, per the National Weather Service, combined with substantial portions of the city recovering from storm damage and still without power, the decision was made to reschedule Friday’s fireworks show, officials said in the release.
Additional details on the July 10 fireworks show will be provided in the coming days, officials said.
