Severe storms roar through Chicago area; Tornadoes suspected; Thousands still without power

(WBBM NEWSRADIO) - Severe storms ripped through the Chicago area and Northwest Indiana Monday night, with several tornadoes suspected of touching down in spots.

One suburb that was hit particularly hard was Schiller Park, just east of O’Hare Airport.

Downed tree branches and limbs littered Grace Street this morning, but those that were blocking traffic were moved by a crew. Homeowners cleaning up will have to do it without anything that plugs in, since this area is without power.  One resident, Daniel, told WBBM, after he got a tornado warning on his phone, the winds picked up.

“Our electricity was going on and off, and, after that, the power went off. We looked outside, the winds were super-crazy. It was like at 70 mph,” he said.

The fierce storms arrived late Monday evening, in the 9 p.m. hour. The wind started howling and tornado sirens began to blast.

According to AccuWeather, there were multiple reports of tornadoes in the region as well as widespread wind damage, with wind gusts as high as 100 mph detected in some areas.

The south suburbs also saw extensive damage. There were numerous trees and power lines  down in Joliet. In a historic district, WBBM’s Mike Krauser reported several streets were blocked by the fallen trees.

Kelsey Cobel, walking her dog, looked over the damage.

“It got real dark, [I] saw some flashing lights that were blue, that was kind of weird,” Cobel said. “Tornado sirens went off, took shelter after that. Really, [I] just saw some pretty high winds, trees swaying, but couldn’t see much from my basement.”

Another resident said, after the siren went off, he heard the freight train sound that some people use describing tornadoes.

As of 11:30 a.m., power outages remain quite extensive. In Illinois, ComEd says , there are more than 5,000 active outages, affecting more than 178,000 customers. More than 18,000 homes and business in Joliet remain without power. In the Chicago, more than 3,500 customers in Englewood do not have power.

Here are other prominent outage numbers:

-Calumet City: 7,279 customers

-South Holland: 4,704 customers

-Harvey: 4,394 customers

-Homewood: 3,928

-Dolton: 3,241

In Northwest Indiana, NIPSCO is reporting 95,000 customers are still without power.

Monday night’s storms are still impacting area roads. I-55 in Channahon remains shutdown between U.S. Route 6 and River Road after power lines fell across the road and then wrapped around several cars. Illinois State Police said one person was transported to an area hospital with injuries.

Police said they expect the shutdown to last for the next 12 to 24 hours.

Fortunately, AccuWeather says the turbulent weather is in the rearview mirror, with the next five days or so being stable and dry. Temperatures are expected to cool, and, by tomorrow, the humidity will really dissipate.

WBBM's Nancy Harty and Mike Krauser contributed to this report.

Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok