I-55 set to reopen Thursday morning after downed power lines trap cars, trucks during storms
CHANNAHON, Ill. (CBS) -- A mess persisted on Interstate 55 near Channahon on Wednesday, 48 hours after an unprecedented tornado outbreak in the Chicago area.
Illinois State Police got the call just after 9 p.m. Monday, after 100 mph winds brought down power lines onto cars and trucks. The power lines and trapped vehicles were still blocking the interstate by Wednesday evening.
But the hope is for the highway to reopen on Thursday morning.
"Honestly, I was a little terrified, because I assumed, you know, they were live wires. It was just a really scary feeling because you didn't know what they were going to do, if they were going to continue to snap," said Jennifer Sternal. "It was definitely scary."
Cleanup has been ongoing at the scene for more than 24 hours. But a portion of the mess remained as of Wednesday—with some tanker trucks lying on their sides on top of each other.
"The damage that occurred here is three transmission lines, and then we also have two distribution circuits that were tangled up with the twisting and the bringing down of those structures," said ComEd senior vice president of technical services Mark Baranek.
Two enormous lattice transmission towers crumpled as if they were made of toothpicks in the tornado.
One of the towers supports ComEd's largest transmission line.
Baranek said the storm also tore down an additional 30 structures.
"We were able to go ahead and reroute power so that the transmission grid is stable, and we're truly focused on this isolated damage here," Baranek said.
Illinois State Police Chicago Region Cmdr. Maj. David Keltner said the seven miles of I-55 that had to be closed for the downed power lines is essential for daily commuters in the area.
"It is a very challenging situation—not only for the motoring public that lives here in the greater Will County area," Keltner said.
The hope is to have the debris on I-55 removed by midnight, but it will still take an hour or two after that to remove the power lines and vehicles.
"Again, we're working as fast as possible, and as safely as possible, to have it reopened," Keltner said.
In addition to I-55, the same tornado knocked out power to Exxon Mobil's Joliet refinery—which could take days to get back to normal. The consequence could be an uptick in gas prices.