CHICAGO (WLS) — This time, 30 year ago, Chicago was grappling with extreme and unprecedented deadly heat.

ABC7 is looking back on the tragedy that changed the way the city responds to natural disasters and led to a major system overhaul.

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Summer temperatures may invite a moment of reflection for some Chicago residents 30 years after the worst weather-related natural disaster in the city.

In July 1995, the Chicagoland area experienced a historic heat wave, with the heat index peaking in the mid-120s, leaving more than 700 people dead.

“We need neighbors going next door, homeowners going to another homeowner, apartment dwellers going to another apartment dwellers where they know there are senior citizens living within their complex,” Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley said at the time.

The uptick in deaths and lack of available communication between Chicagoans and emergency services left first responders and morgue workers understaffed and overwhelmed. So many bodies accumulated that they had to be stored in refrigerated trucks as they waited to be taken to the morgue.

“I’d been here about a year, and I don’t think any of us really realized the gravity of what was happening until we started seeing the refrigeration trucks,” ABC7 Chicago AccuWeather Meteorologist Tracy Butler said.

Butler remembers the heat wave and the changes the city made in its wake to help prevent future disasters.

“We learned a lot from 1995, and one of the things was, how do we get better at warning folks about these things?” Butler said. “And the weather service made various changes to their heat watch programs… their excessive heat warning programs… learn more about how cooling centers are.”

SEE ALSO | How to stay cool in Chicago area amid rising temperatures this summer: LIST

The city established the OEMC, or Office of Emergency Management and Communications, months after the 1995 heat wave.

Its goal is to streamline crucial information between Chicagoans and emergency services.

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