The City of Naperville met with its internal and external partners to plan for the upcoming extreme cold.
“We haven’t had temperatures like this since 1985 I’m told so this is potentially a very, very serious situation,” said Mayor Steve Chirico. “So pulling in all the stakeholders in our community, making sure that they’re aware of what we’re doing so we’re aware of what they’re doing, so that there’s good communication and the appropriate amount of resources are available to everybody.”
The National Weather Service reports Naperville will be under a wind chill warning Tuesday through Thursday this week, with wind chills dropping between 30 to 50 degrees below zero those evenings.
As a result, dozens of Naperville entities such as the park district and both school districts discussed their potential closures. City officials spoke on the preventative safety measures they’re taking.
“We are planning on having our full staffing and all of all eight of our ambulances for both Wednesday and Thursday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. the next day. So for two shift days by that time we think the temperatures are planning to go back down to normal,” explained Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis.
The city also noted warming centers that will be available, such as your local libraries and the Naperville Township building. More information on warming center locations in DuPage can be found on the DuPage county website.
Naperville News 17’s Christine Lena reports.
