LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO — A thunderstorm passed through the village on the evening of June 10. The Society is assessing damages, which can only be counted properly once the cars and the Starbucks locations are accounted for.
Branches came down across the village, damaging cars, a fence, and a recently planted garden. Members began sending photographs as soon as it was safe to go outside.
The gravest news first. A senior Member's Jetta was collapsed upon by a tree on a side street east of Halsted. The vehicle had survived decades of street parking, two break-ins, and the parking altercation of record. It could not survive a silver maple. The Member is unharmed and was, in her words, "barely even near it," which the Society has chosen not to examine.
Separately, another senior Member lost a tree entirely — roots and all, taking a section of wrought-iron fence with it on the way down. The Member reports the tree predated her ownership of the home, her marriage, and possibly the street. The fence was original. The garden underneath had just gone in. Condolence casseroles may be left with the doorman.
On the question of damages, the Society declines to issue a dollar figure. The village does not measure losses that way. Early estimates stand at four cars, one fence, one legacy tree, and a partial interruption of service at two Starbucks locations, one of which lost power mid-order. Members affected by the outage describe the experience as "harrowing" and the Society has no grounds to doubt them.
The Office of Grounds & Weather has been asked whether storms of this kind can be prevented. Its finding: no, but the Society should keep asking.
— Issued by the Office of the Executive Director.