South suburban residents picking up the pieces after destructive storms

WILL COUNTY, Ill. — Cleanups are underway in Chicago’s south suburbs, which were among the hardest hit during a round of destructive storms on Monday night.

Residents across parts of Will County were still without power on Tuesday afternoon, including in Joliet, where the damage was extensive.

“Lights flickered, house shook. It was literally a horrible feeling,” Yvette Barrera, a homeowner in Joliet, said.

Barrera said she had next to no time to get her family to safety as the destructive storms tore through.

“Grabbed our kids and ran to the only bathroom without windows,” Barrera said.

Powerful winds picked up and moved Barrera’s garage and a tree landed on the roof of her home.

It was a devastating sight for her and her family.

“It’s sad, we’re alive so we’re okay,” Barrera said.

The last two days have been grueling for residents in Joliet.

“My reaction is I am glad everyone is safe. We haven’t had any injuries, we haven’t had any fatalities,” Joliet City Manager Beth Batty said.

The city is now dealing with the cleanup from destructive back-to-back storms that swept through on Sunday night and Monday night.

“This will take several weeks to clean up,” Batty said.

Homeowners are now working to assess the damage, and for some it includes flooding.

“The basement after we lost power we have no subpump. Lots of flooding we couldn’t get a generator out here in time. But it’s pumped out almost good now,” Joliet homeowner Nick Kursell said.

Crews are working hard to clean up hundreds of uprooted trees and several downed powerlines.

“The next few days are going to be critical. A lot of homes were damaged,” Allison Anderson, the Director of the Will County Emergency Management Agency, said.

Officials in Will County said the entire county is dealing with clean up and safety is top of mind.

“We have a lot of down wires right now, we want everyone to treat those wires as if they are live,” Anderson said

County officials said thousands in the area are still without power.

“We have about 32 communities and almost all of them were hit in some way,” Will County Chief Executive Officer Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant said.

Shorewood is also among the communities hit hard by this storm.

“This is a pretty big storm, we haven’t seen one this big and this vital in a very long time,” Anderson said

Officials say that it is critical that people look out for each other while the footprint of the storm is still being determined.

“Take care of each other, again we know there are areas hit check in on your neighbors, check in on your relatives even if you don’t live in the community. People may need a cooling center need someone to help clear up a driveway, be neighborly,” Bertino-Tarrant said.

Those without power who are now dealing with the summer temperatures can seek some relief at local cooling centers.

City officials provided the following list of cooling centers in Joliet:

Daybreak Center – 611 E Cass Steet – Phone: 815-774-4663

Morning Star Mission – 364 East Washington Street (entrance on Melchoir Place) – Phone: 815-722-5780

Senior Services of Will County – 251 North Center Street – Phone: 815-723-971

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