OEMC To Issue Report On City's Handling Of Extreme Heat

CHICAGO (STMW) -- The Office of Emergency Management and Communications will issue a report investigating the city's response to three days of temperatures over 100 degrees, according to an office spokeswoman.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel requested the After Action report, which will examine how city departments coordinated to deal with the extreme temperatures, the spokeswoman said, adding it will come out in 60 days.

The city offered a number of cooling centers and well-being checks for the elderly, the spokeswoman said, but the city will not call the record-tying days a success because "people still lost their lives."

Emanuel requested the report because extremes are now the norms, the spokeswoman said.

The report will also look at how resources were allocated across the city and how weather was monitored by departments around the clock, the spokeswoman said.

The last After Action report was issued following the February 2011 blizzard, when cars were stranded for hours along Lake Shore Drive.

"We take those days seriously," she said, "We want to look at everything to see what improvements we can make."

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)