CHICAGO — The Chicago area was left cleaning up Wednesday night after severe storms swept through the region, with additional rough weather expected to continue into Thursday.
By 8:45 p.m., more than 180,000 ComEd customers were without electricity as crews worked to respond to widespread outages.
The storms also disrupted court operations. The Cook County Circuit Court said all cases scheduled at 727 E. 111th St. in Chicago would be continued because of a power outage at the facility.
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Trees down across Chicago
On the South Side, Peoples Gas reported that a fallen tree tore up part of a gas main near 81st Street and Kingston Avenue.
Officials said a section of the gas main was left in the roadway. Water lines were also damaged, allowing water to enter the gas system.
Part of the gas main ended up on the street. Water pipes were damaged as well and water got into the gas system.
About 250 customers were impacted, Peoples Gas said.
Residents said they were confused and afraid, as the smell of natural gas spread through the neighborhood.
“You could hear the rushing of gas. And you could smell the gas in the air for blocks. And people didn’t know what to do. They were at home. Where do you run? Where do you go?” South Shore resident Keith Denmark said.
Denmark said fallen trees blocked the street in multiple directions, leaving neighbors with few options to evacuate. A vehicle was also crushed by the fallen tree that damaged the gas line; though no one was inside at the time.
People’s Gas said significant repairs are required to restore service.
“About a 40-foot section of our line will have to be replaced. And then for like two blocks, two and a half to three blocks, in addition to that because the water line was broken. Water went into those pipes. So those pipes are intact, but we are going to do work to thoroughly clean them out, to push out all of that water and any potential debris that may be in there,” spokesperson David Schwartz said.
People’s Gas said it hopes to complete repairs by the end of the day but cautioned that the timeline could change.
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The storms led to an obstruction on the CTA Yellow Line tracks, suspending service Thursday morning. Service resumed shortly before 8 a.m.
There was damage on Chicago’s Northwest Side. A large tree snapped and blocked a road.
The storms also left a trail of destruction in McKinley Park.
Crews chopped up a large tree that smashed parked cars.
City crews brought saws and heavy machinery to break up a massive tree that was uprooted in McKinley Park following strong winds. Parked cars were left smashed on 34th Street and Paulina Avenue.
Santiago Pulido’s car was totaled. He said he’s lucky he wasn’t in his car when the tree came crashing down near 34th Street and Paulina Avenue.
Pulido said this has left him without his only means of transportation to and from work.
“I feel, I feel, I feel very, very, very, very sad,” Pulido said. “I go into my house when I hear the tree, they fall – boom … and then I come back and I see my car, ‘Oh my goodness! Oh no this is not good. My car is broken on the street.’”
Others who live on the block weren’t spared.
Just a few houses down from where the tree crushed the cars, a woman came home to find another tree on the same block had crashed into her and her neighbor’s home – taking out several windows and damaging the house.
Some neighbors said before the storm, they had expressed concerns about overgrown trees and clogged drains.
Meanwhile, Pulido is hoping for some help. He said he doesn’t have the money to buy another one.
Power outages caused problems, as well.
“The groceries we bought were to last us for about a week and almost like $200. So that’s down the drain,” McKinley Park resident Jules Carrasco said.
As of 6 a.m., the Chicago Office of Emergency Management and Communications said they responded to six flooded viaducts, 214 calls of water on the street, 47 calls of water in basements, 323 traffic signal outages, 4,114 tree emergencies, 1,496 debris and 188 calls of wires down.
South suburbs hit hard
A power outage has led to the temporary closure of the Markham Courthouse. All criminal cases scheduled for initial appearance and electronic monitoring violations of conditions of release will be heard at the Fifth Municipal District Courthouse in Bridgeview. All other matters will be continued until a later date.
Southwest suburban Stickney was among the hardest hit areas with storm damage Thursday morning.
Restoration crews had their hands full as they work to protect a condo building whose roof was partially peeled off.
Workers could be seen on the roof Thursday morning, as they cleared debris and loose bricks.
“Well additional water damage inside the units is one concern, but I think an additional concern that we have is that tarps are not permanent you know roofing material and the tarps can ger blown over, which may cause an additional hazard,” Stickney Village Building Inspector Josh Brniak said.
One of two condo buildings is uninhabitable. Approximately 30 people are without a home at the Ridgewood Condominiums.
It could be weeks until people will be allowed to safely return.
“So obviously the building can be fixed, but luckily we didn’t lose anybody yesterday,” said Jasmine Scott, resident and association president.
Village officials say they are also dealing with power outages at their main facilities, including the police and fire department and public works department. Some of them are on generators.
In Joliet, the steeple blew off a building at the University of St. Francis.
In Mokena, a tree fell on a Will County sheriff’s squad car.
A tree also landed on a house in Dolton. The tree uprooted from the ground before crashing down on a home, caving in the roof with rain water left gushing inside during the storm.
The tree fell at 152nd Street and King Drive. No one was hurt.
The homeowner, Jamila Bynum, says her family has lived in the home for more than 20 years. And for the past two years, she says her family complained to the village about the tree, saying it was dead.
She told ABC7 she came home early from work because of the thunderstorm. And though she heard a noise, she didn’t yet know a tree had actually fallen on her house.
To her surprise, another tree happened to fall onto Bynum’s neighbor’s home just up the street. No one was home at the time.
As for Bynum’s home, firefighters did come out to look at the damage, while she says she’s deciding on whether to stay there or stay with relatives until repairs are made.
Eighty mile-per-hour winds were clocked southwest of the city.
Power may not be restored for some until 11 p.m. Saturday.
In Palos Heights, a huge tree branch came crashing through a roof, while a different tree uprooted in the backyard, spilling over to the next-door neighbors.
The damage is extensive for what residents say was a very quick storm.
“I was in the back of the house; we have windows. The storm came up really fast; all you could see is debris flying everywhere. The winds were so strong you couldn’t see anything; it looked like the ‘Wizard of Oz,’” Palos Heights resident Diana Hopf said.
While Hopf and her husband have been up since 6 a.m. cleaning up, they were spared compared to some of their neighbors.
Maria Luna had just gone inside her home when the storm hit. She turned around and a big backyard oak had already crushed her garage. She is thankful it didn’t hit her house.
“Really fast, and like a minute, one minute, yeah, terrible. I never expect that, you know, it could be worse,” Palos Heights resident Luna said.
Despite the damage, no one was hurt on the Palos Heights block. But, residents will likely have to live without power for a couple more days. Wrapped up in branches, trees took many power lines down.
“This is not a restoration; it’s actually rebuilding. The amount of trees that came down and branches on the infrastructure is significant,” said David Perez, ComEd executive vice president and chief operating officer.
ComEd is asking for patience. The electric company is bringing in 1,000 extra workers from other states. Some people are relying on each other’s generators.
“What are we going to do? Rent a hotel downtown? No way,” Bill Hopf said.
ComEd says the most impacted areas were from Chicago to Crestwood and Alsip to Joliet.
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