Janice R. Andrews
Residents of Chicagoland are cleaning up and evaluating the damage Tuesday morning following Monday night’s devastating storms. Drone footage taken by WGN photojournalist Tremaine Williams reveals extensive damage caused by the strong storms to the southwest suburban area of Shorewood. Check out Williams’ drone footage in the story’s associated video.
Sad Cedar Lake Incident
A significant portion of a tree fell onto a 44-year-old woman’s home in Cedar Lake, Northwest Indiana, resulting in a terrible tragedy. This demonstrates the storms’ catastrophic effects, which left many locations with homes damaged and trees downed. For more, see the video below:
Extensive Damage and Power Failures
Thousands of people in Chicagoland lost power as a result of numerous downed trees and damaged homes, and several major roadways had to close because of debris or broken power lines. ComEd reported 4,717 current outages impacting 205,783 customers in Chicagoland as of approximately 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday. About every 15 minutes, ComEd refreshes its outage map. By Wednesday afternoon, it hopes to have restored 80% of the outages; by Friday, the remaining portion will be restored. As of five a.m. on Tuesday, NIPSCO in Northwest Indiana stated that 99,000 customers were impacted. For updates, go to nipsco.com.
Seven Tornadoes Seen
On Monday night, the National Weather Service (NWS) stated that seven tornadoes were seen in the following locations: Chicagoland received thirteen tornado warnings from the NWS.
- Manhattan – Joliet – Sugar Grove – Oswego – Midway International Airport (maybe two)
- Crown Point, Northwest Indiana – O’Hare International Airport
The National Weather Service (NWS) has six survey teams on the field and will be surveying 29 potential storm damage paths in the following days to ascertain if the damage was caused by straight-line winds or tornadoes. As of Tuesday morning, the NWS had not officially confirmed any tornadoes. According to the NWS, this can take a few days. It will publish updates on its social media accounts on Facebook and X.
This comes after three EF-0 tornadoes that were confirmed to have made landfall in Chicago on Sunday night during a separate storm system have been confirmed. Watch Morgan Kolkmeyer of WGN’s video below for additional details on how the NWS verifies tornado touchdowns:
Significant Damage at Shorewood
As of early Tuesday morning, there was no confirmation of a tornado touchdown in the southwest suburban Shorewood, but the devastation was substantial none the less. Canterbury Lane residents saw numerous trees down and numerous homes damaged. A tree was still perched atop another house, while one roof had been torn off. Before teams with heavy machinery could arrive, neighbors used chainsaws to clean the roads.
Locals reported that the storm was swift and noisy. According to resident Tom Petrizzo, “there was very little reaction time.” “It took us only a few seconds to enter that crawl space.” “It sounded almost like a train coming,” Angie Petrizzo continued. It was really noisy. Don Bersano, another resident, described it as a “scary situation” and said that it “came through so quick.” It looked early on Tuesday morning that the people living on Canterbury Lane in Shorewood, which was severely damaged, were safe. Jerry Lockwood, a local, declared, “We’re all safe.” “Thank God none of us are hurt. That is all that is important. To learn more about the destruction in Shorewood, watch the video below:
The tornado in Oswego
Residents woke up to significant storm damage on Tuesday morning in west suburban Oswego, where the NWS reported a tornado landing. Trees that had been pulled from the ground fell on houses and cars, obstructing roads. Carol Gillette, an Oswego resident, related what happened to her: “I went inside the house and heard this big crash, like a bomb went off.” I told my dog to get down on the ground. Trees were falling everywhere, shattering glass. And then it was over, fifteen minutes later. Then there was no power, which left us in this mess. For more, see the video below:
Residents are being advised by the Village of Oswego to report any damage using the village website or the My 3-1-1 app.
Interruptions to Traffic
In the far southwest of Chicagoland, close to Channahon, I-55 was stopped in both directions on Tuesday morning due to downed power lines. According to the Channahon Police Department, frontage roads are also affected by the closure, which is between U.S. Route 6 and Lorenzo Road. Traffic from Rt. 6 and Bluff Road may enter I-55 heading north.
More Videos and Updates on Damage
A dashcam footage of swirling debris from a potential tornado near the Damen Avenue exit on I-290 was taken by one of WGN’s viewers on Monday night. Watch the video down below:
Police in Joliet stated that numerous roads were either totally or partially obstructed by downed power wires. Many Joliet residents remained without power as of Tuesday morning, with the most significant damage appearing to be in the city’s center, which stretches from Essington Road east to the Des Plaines River.
About 25 miles northwest of Elgin, in DeKalb County, a broken power line caused a fire in Genoa. Strong winds also split or toppled big trees, causing property damage all over the area. Roughly twenty-five miles south of Chicago, in Crestwood, Cook County, strong winds uprooted several trees and ripped off a roof. Strong winds in Norridge, in suburban Cook County, just northwest of Chicago, also split trees. Some toppled over and landed on or close to houses. Check out the videos below:
Calm Weather to Come
Chicagoland needs a vacation after the terrible weather and storm damage that occurred between Sunday and Monday nights, along with the heavy rains that have been falling on recent systems. A peaceful weather pattern will prevail for the next few days at least as cooler, drier air begins to fall on the region on Tuesday.
