Burr Ridge One Year Ago Today

The National Weather Service is predicting a high near 48 degrees today, quite a difference from the weather a year ago today, when we were knee-deep in the third largest blizzard in the history of the Chicago area.

At this time last year:

• Burr Ridge residents were without power from 7 p.m. on Feb. 1 until 8 a.m. on Feb. 2 after a transformer on the corner of Plainfield Rd. and Madison St. exploded

• The Public Works department cleared 60 miles of streets and 165 cul-de-sacs

• Lyons Township students were given the first snowdays the district had had in 12 years on Feb. 2 and 3. Much to the disappointment of the students, they later had to make up those days at the end of April.

The blizzard was an expensive one for Burr Ridge, costing the village:

• $78,191.90 in total expenses
• $18,074.43 in overtime
• $18,998.38 in salt and fuel
• $6,405 in contracted help
• $2,789.09 in food and lodging

Although costly, Mayor Gary Grasso said he received a lot of positive phone calls from residents about the village's response to the situation, and village officials said they were pleased at the way people pulled together during the storm and clean up effort.

• The offered rooms for $40 to village staff and employees to help keep them in town during the storm

• All roads were passable and the majority of the cul-de-sacs cleared 12 hours after the snow stopped

• There were zero water main breaks

About $30,000 reimbursement for the village was recognized by FEMA for the use of certain equipment. A total of 20.2 inches of snow fell in Burr Ridge during the blizzard of 2011.