Tree Lands on Orland Park House During Storm

By Steve Neuhaus and Patch Editor Ben Feldheim

High winds caused a tree to snap and fall on a house and two cars in the 14700 block of Holly Court Monday night during a severe storm.

Ryan Vanalst said he was out front with his son when the tree on their front lawn came crashing down onto their home. Vanalst’s wife Meghan, along with their daughters, were inside the home at the time, but were not hurt.

The family’s two cars were parked in the driveway at the time and also were damaged.

Areas in the village lost power, including the Brook Hills subdivision, around 135th Street and 86th Avenue, along 82nd Avenue from 143rd Street to 135th Street, in Orland Hills and along Ravinia Court. Over 1,800 locations were affected by outages throughout the night, according to ComEd.

The Orland Fire Protection District dealt with six areas where falling trees caused damage, including the house on Holly Court, and also responded to a lightning strike in Brook Hills, according to Orland Fire Chief Ken Brucki.

Some flash flooding happened in areas prone to flooding, such as Wolf Road, but water levels quickly subsided and no streets were closed, Brucki said. Several alarms were set off throughout the district’s coverage area, and firefighters were still checking out alerts as of 9 p.m.

“We go into storm mode, which for us means all companies coordinate together and are in the front of the station ready to go,” Brucki said. “When we monitor events like this, we are constantly watching the weather and listening to the calls coming in to other nearby areas so we’re ready for what’s coming.”

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