Will County communities are bracing for another round of severe thunderstorms on Wednesday even as they are still cleaning the debris from last week’s derecho.

The National Weather Service has forecasted two rounds of potentially severe storms on Wednesday in northern Illinois.

The first round takes place between 6 a.m. and 1 p.m. Most of Will County has the second lowest risk of destructive hail and winds.

But a second and possibly more dangerous round of potential tornadic thunderstorms is expected between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. in northern Illinois, according to the National Weather Service.

In Will County, the main time period of concern is between 2 to 8 p.m., said Brett Borchardt, senior meteorologist for the National Weather Service.

He said the forecast favors the nastiest weather just south of Will County but the storms could travel north. He said everyone should be prepared regardless of their location.

“It’s one of those days where things could be quite nasty,” Borchardt said.

The line of storms predicted is “kind of teetering” on the border of Kankakee and Will counties, said Allison Anderson, executive director of Will County Emergency Management Agency.

“We’re not anticipating it being as impactful as it was last week. But that line can move, and it can be here; it can be in Kankakee,” Anderson said.

She said the weather service has not given them any indication Will County will be the “central point of this storm.”

“So we’ll just monitor and see where we’re at,” Anderson said.

Anderson encouraged residents to download the Smart 911, which does weather alerts. The county announced the new app on Monday, and it sends public safety messages to registered residents through text, phone, email, or application alerts.

Residents can register for Smart 911 at this link: willcounty911.gov/smart-911

“We definitely want people to download the Smart 911 app, create a profile, and stay weather aware,” Anderson said.

Storm preparation

Anderson said the Will County Emergency Management Agency will keep in direct communication with municipalities and assist them when needed.

“We’ll be going into storm mode as the storm approaches. We usually start about an hour before the storm happens, gives us some time to prepare and then we start activating and maintaining those direct communications should something happen,” Anderson said.

Joliet‘s response to Wednesday’s predicated weather ”will be driven by safety and operational needs,“ said Sydney Thompson, the city’s spokeswoman.

“City leadership and department heads are discussing the upcoming weather from operational and response perspectives,” Thompson said.

Joliet’s public work crews are working extended hours this week and the city brought in contractor support to help clear debris as “quickly and safely as possible,” according to city officials.

“Our top priority was addressing immediate safety hazards (like blocked roadways or hanging limbs), and those have now been resolved,” city officials said.

Plainfield Emergency Management Agency, a group of volunteers, has trained spotters in the event of severe weather who will monitor the weather, said Joshua Blakemore, Plainfield village administrator.

Blakemore said the village is “very lucky to have a group of volunteers” who are willing to “go out in those circumstances and help keep the village alert as severe weather is approaching.”

“Our Public Works team is still clearing some debris and branches from last week, but they will be ready should there be damage during tomorrow’s storms as well,” Blakemore said.

ComEd “typically stays in close communication” with Plainfield in the event of outages, he said.

Crest Hill will coordinate with the county and local fire departments to provide “normal emergency management activities,” said Blaine Wing, the city’s administrator.

“The city is continuing to watch the weather,” Wing said. “Depending on the severity, we will communicate any to residents using the city website, social media, and Will County’s emergency alerting software.”

Lockport city officials said they will have public works crews on standby Wednesday if the weather forecast is severe.

Romeoville Public Works officials said they will also have crews on standby and hold pre-storm meetings whenever bad weather is in the forecast.

“We’re always paying attention, and if we get storms, we’ll have crews out to assess any damage as soon as it clears,” said Chris Drey, Romeoville public works director.

Last week’s storms

During last week’s storms, high winds knocked down trees and power lines and did severe damage to roofs and fences, leaving branches and debris strewn across lawns and streets in dozens of communities and leaving thousands in the dark for days.

By Tuesday afternoon, most Commonwealth Edison customers in Will County had their power restored but most residents are still focused on clean-up.

Crews in Joliet are beginning a “systematic, street-by-street clean-up across the city,” city officials said.

“Because of the volume of debris, we estimate it will take until next week to finish the clean-up,” city officials said on Tuesday.

“[Crest Hill] Public Works started going around on Friday to pick up all the branches. They’re going to continue coming around with the chipper truck until this Friday to collect all the debris,” Wing said.

Additionally, Wing said the city has contracted with Republic Services, a waste disposal company, to place large dumpsters outside Crest Hill public works and police departments for residents to dispose of storm-related garbage.

The dumpsters are primarily meant for food that spoiled in refrigerators without power or if there were other home items damaged due to winds or flooding.

Branches and other tree-related waste should not be brought to the dumpsters.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends dumping anything that was in a refrigerator or freezer and reached temperatures below 40 degrees for more than four to six hours.

Lockport is focusing on branch cleanup in the hardest-hit areas from last week’s storms. The hardest- hit area is between 7th and Division streets in the Kelvin Grove area.

“That area was hit really hard, so we will be concentrating on that probably through the end of the week, unless we get more storms Wednesday,” said Brian Lovering, Lockport’s public works director.

Depending on the outcome of Wednesday’s weather, Lovering said the city can do branch pick up for the rest of the city.

Lovering said Old Canal Days festival immediately following the storms had his department “pulling double duty.” He said the main focus this weekend was keeping roads clear and open during the festival.

While people were left without power for several days, Drey says the area was “fortunate” and did not suffer severe damage.

Romeoville Public Works crews are continuing to work on branch pick-up. Drey estimates that, barring further damage Wednesday, the process should be complete by the end of the week.

“We have some mature trees that were damaged, but nothing unexpected,” Drey said. “We were fortunate there was no extensive damage.”