Thousands were without power after a line of storms blew into the area overnight, bringing strong winds, dust storms and transit delays.
Nearly 7,000 customers were still without power across the state Wednesday afternoon, according to ComEd. A total of 417 outages were reported as of 1 p.m., including 167 in Cook County affecting more than 1,500 people. Nearly 500 people were also affected in DuPage and Lake counties. Earlier in the morning, more than 15,000 ComEd customers had been experiencing outages in Illinois.
Tuesday night, winds gusted up to 75 mph in portions of central and northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana. Temperatures rose shy of 90 degrees. The National Weather Service said it received 23 tornado reports in the Midwest, with most in Iowa. About 60 miles west of Des Moines, multiple people were killed by a tornado that leveled a small town, officials said. Responders are still counting the fatalities.
As of Wednesday morning, the National Weather Service had not confirmed any tornadoes in the Chicago area, but officials are out monitoring the damage. Illinois State Police had issued a dust storm warning on I-55 near McLean Tuesday afternoon.
Amid strong winds, downed powerlines and track obstructions were causing delays on the CTA Yellow Line and Metra Milwaukee North Line early Wednesday.
Fallen trees and branches were also reported across the Chicago area. In Elgin, two people suffered minor injuries from a toppled tree, according to the Kane County sheriff’s office. A tree smashed through the roof of a home on Ferndale Drive in Round Lake Beach, officials said.
