Chicago Braces For Massive Storms

Huge storms racing across the Plains states will hit Chicago with a mix of heavy rain, hail, and perhaps tornadoes. It is rare for such storms to hit the third-largest city in America by population.

City News –A New York Blackout?

Accuweather describes the approaching storms as containing strong winds and “flooding downpours.” The city, located at the southern tip of Lake Michigan, could suffer some of the consequences that Houston did recently. Winds damaged office buildings not rated for high winds, homes, and much of the city’s infrastructure faced millions of dollars of damage as the area was battered.

Violent Storms

According to CNN, “Destructive hail, winds and a few tornadoes could thrash communities in parts of the Midwest Tuesday as a relentless storm system continues to tear a path across the US this week.” The storms could affect as many as 22 million people.

Storms of this size, which have happened more recently, as they have in the central US this spring, appear to fall into a new category. They are not only gigantic and partially unpredictable, and cities have little time to brace for them.

Perhaps more importantly, many cities have not been built for the results of weather catastrophes of this size. Many structures are not constructed to withstand 100 MPH winds, like the ones that hit Houston last week.

One other byproduct of this, which will not likely be an issue in Chicago for now, is home and commercial insurance price increases. This has become an issue in other cities and regions, and the problem will almost certainly spread with violent weather.

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