Chicago Weather: Cleanup Resumes After Tuesday's Powerful Storms Rip Out Trees, Knock Down Power Lines; Possible Tornado Hit Near Channahon
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Cleanup continues after storms pounded the Chicago area on Tuesday, bringing torrential rain, fierce winds, and lightning; knocking down trees and utility poles, knocking out power to thousands of homes and businesses.
The storms first hit the far north and northwest suburbs, then the southwest suburbs in Will County.
Hit especially hard were the Will County communities of Channahon and Minooka, where trees and power lines were ripped down in many spots. The National Weather Service sent experts to Will County on Wednesday to determine whether a tornado touched down during the storm, after reports of a possible tornado north of Channahon and near Minooka.
CBS 2's Asal Rezaei spent Wednesday morning in Channahon, speaking with some very tired homeowners who have a lot to do now.
Tuesday's storm completely uprooted a massive tree in one front yard. The homeowners said they're just happy everyone is okay.
Cleanup efforts were still underway Wednesday morning in Channahon, after heavy winds and rain took down power lines and trees across town on Tuesday.
Homeowner John Van Amburgh was left with a large tree that fell onto his home.
"Just want to get it off the house, and assess the damage of whatever might be inside the attic," he said. "So far there's no damage in our bedrooms."
Only his son was home when the tree came down. He said, when he pulled up to the driveway, he was speechless.
"I didn't know what to think. It's like, how are we going to get this down? Really, you know? I mean that's a pretty big tree," he said.
Van Amburgh is not alone when it comes to the mess he's facing; trees and power lines are down along his entire street.
"From what the neighbor was saying, pretty much these trees kind of just popped out of the ground before the tornado sirens even went off," he said.
He's thankful no one got hurt and that he has some neighbors to lean on while they wait for the power to come back on.
"Definitely thankful. We had a good neighbor behind us. At least they've got power, He lent us his generator last night to at least keep our food cold and stuff. So thankful for that," he said.
The homeowners and many neighbors on this block said they're still without power still this morning.
They're expecting their power to be restored hopefully by about 7 o'clock tonight.
According to ComEd, as of 11:20 a.m. Wednesday, a total of 1,269 homes and businesses in the Chicago area were still without power.