Chicago area homeowner loses tree and power to thundersnow
CHICAGO (CBS) -- While some people are digging out of the snow, others have been without power since Friday's winter storm. That was the case for one Maywood woman. The cause of her power outage could be a phenomenon called thundersnow.
All was calm Saturday in front of the Maywood home, but Meg Verre recounted a different situation out back during Friday's snowstorm.
"Oh my God! I thought a bomb literally had gone off! And the fact that all the windows were shaking around us," she said. "We noticed a bolt of lightning coming out of the sky, and it struck the top of my tree and just exploded. And when I saw it explode, it rocked the neighborhood."
Then she noticed it was her 75-year-old pine tree with its top off that knocked out power inside her home.
"And I go inside and all of a sudden we have blinking lights and no heat," she said.
Luckily the power in the garage was still on.
"We did crockpot cooking by way of the garage," she said. "But we have no heat. And we haven't had heat since 7:15 yesterday morning."
For more than 24 hours Verre was without power inside her home. She called ComEd. They came out Friday to assess the situation and were back again Saturday. They say she is one of thousands still waiting for power to be restored.
"It wasn't until I got talking to somebody this morning and stated that I had called CBS. I had sent a couple of messages to CBS about an exploding tree," she said.
The exploding tree is no longer a mystery. The arborist and those with ComEd say this could've been caused by heavy snow or thundersnow that produces lightning.
CBS 2's First Alert Weather Team says there were several reports of lightning during Friday's storm.
"Yes, winter in Chicago, which I'm always grateful for," Verre said.
She would be even more grateful for electricity and warmth, she said.
"And I'd be grateful for either one at this point because my feet are really cold."
Verre's power was restored Saturday afternoon.
ComEd said there were hundredes of calls where only one home suffered a power outage.