COLD WEATHER SAFETY TIPS

Extreme cold is heading for DuPage County!

Starting late Tuesday night, DuPage County will enter its coldest snap in more than a decade. Temperatures will stay below freezing both day and night. The winter conditions will result in potentially life-threatening wind chills. Take some time to make sure your home is ready and make sure your family is safe!

If you cannot stay in your home, use this list of heating centers in DuPage County to find a warm place to stay. Please call the heating center first to make sure they are open and operating.

Metra has released a modified schedule for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Tips to keep your pets safe in extreme cold.

Report an outage with ComEd, check repair status, or view outage maps.

Check in on your local weather forecast.

Visit the DuPage County website and the 18th Judicial Circuit Court's website for details on office closures.

If you need additional assistance, please visit the Community Resource Information System's website. If you need to speak with someone, please call (800) 942-9412.

In an emergency, please call 911. If you have non-emergency situations, please contact your local municipality. Determine your local municipality's non-emergency number now before it's needed!

Cold Weather Fire Prevention and Safety

• Never use an oven or stovetop to heat your home.
• Use of space heaters is not recommended. If you must use a space heater, make sure it is UL certified and located at least three feet from anything that could ignite.
• If using extension cords, make sure they are UL certified and only connected to one appliance. Cords should never be placed under a carpet.

Frozen Pipes

To keep pipes from freezing on an outside wall:

• Let hold and cold water trickle or drip at night from a faucet.
• Open cabinet doors to allow more heat to get to un-insulated pipes under a sink or near an outer wall.
• Make sure the heat is left on and set no lower than 55 degrees.

If a pipe freezes:

• Make sure you and your family knows how to shut off the water in case a pipe bursts.
• Never try to thaw a pipe with an open flame or torch. Use a hair dryer instead.
• Always be careful of the potential for electric shock around standing water.