Widespread damage after multiple tornadoes reported in Chicago metro area
CHICAGO (CBS) — Tornadoes, dangerous straight-line winds, and other hazards rocked the Chicago area Monday night, and the National Weather Service reported there may have been as many as 10 tornadoes on the ground during the evening. At least one person was killed during the storm outbreak, officials confirmed.
Residents woke up Tuesday morning to power outages caused by severe storm damage with flooding and downed trees. ComEd crews and emergency management teams are working to clear roadways and residential areas.
Before 10 p.m., a large tornado was reported on the ground at O'Hare International Airport and moving eastward, according to the National Weather Service. Another tornado was also spotted in Crestwood.
A possible tornado was also spotted on the ground near Midway International Airport, and another tornado was confirmed in Will County.
Earlier, twin tornadoes were confirmed—one in Sugar Grove, the other in Oswego. The Sugar Grove tornado was headed for Aurora, Warrenville, and Naperville, the Oswego tornado for Plainfield and Romeoville.
In the Gary, Indiana, area, winds with a velocity of 73 to 82 mph were detected. On the south side of Valparaiso, Indiana, winds topped out at a hurricane-force 76 mph.
During the 9 p.m. hour, the National Weather Service staff took shelter in their offices in Romeoville. They said they had a flurry of tornado warnings and too many circulations to keep track of.
A tornado warning was issued until 10 p.m. for the entirety of the city of Chicago and Cook County and was allowed to expire thereafter. This followed tornado warnings throughout other Illinois counties.
The storm moved eastward into Northwest Indiana afterward, prompting tornado warnings in counties there for over an hour.
A woman was killed after a tree fell on a home during severe storms near Cedar Lake, Indiana, Monday night. According to the Lake County Coroner's Office, the victim was identified as 44-year-old Laura Nagel. Her manner of death was listed in connection with the severe storm damage.
Each and every county in the CBS Chicago viewing area was under a tornado warning at some point Monday night, an exceedingly rare phenomenon.
ComEd spokeswoman Lauren Huffman said areas south and west of the city were hit particularly hard—including Joliet. She said crews were working to make repairs as of just before 11 p.m., and there was a lot of work ahead in assessing the damage and restoring power.
ComEd asks that customers report outages or downed power lines by calling 1-800-EDISON-1 (1-800-334-7661) or going online.
A ground stop was issued at both Midway and O'Hare International Airports as the storms pounded the area Monday evening.
Tree damage was widespread throughout the Chicago area and beyond. The storm snapped or uprooted trees with trunk diameters of up to 2 to 3 feet.
The Chicago Fire Department reported numerous trees and power lines down around the city, several areas without power, and some transformers burning and power lines broken. The CFD warned that voltage from live power lines may be charging the wet ground—causing a shock risk.
The Fire Department reported that at 70th Street and Campbell Avenue in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood, trees were down on most of the block.
No injuries were reported in the city associated with the storm.
Kane County, where an early tornado was confirmed in Sugar Grove, reported damage to trees and wires in the Sugar Grove and Campton Hills areas. In St. Charles Township, an entire roadway was closed until further notice due to multiple trees down and a transformer fire, and at 8-N-600 Wild Rose Dr. in St. Charles Township, a structure fire was blamed on the weather.
Late Monday night, portions of Interstate 55 in Will County were shut down near Lorenzo Road due to debris and large high-voltage power lines that may be down in the road.
In the DeKalb County community of Monroe Center, trees were split in two, and power lines also came down — sparking a fire in front of a house.
Downed wires also caused a fire near O'Hare.
Down wires police blocking road as wires spark near Ohare. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/WjVLt2P8qW
— Jermont Terry (@JermontTerry) July 16, 2024
Flooded roadways were also widespread across the area.
Because of the storms, a classic rock concert at Wrigley Field started earlier than planned. The concert, featuring the Steve Miller Band, Journey, and Def Leppard, began an hour earlier at 4:30 p.m. The Steve Miller Band took the stage at 4:30 p.m., Journey at 5:30 p.m., and Def Leppard at 7:15 p.m.
Sirens started sounding right as a throng of people were leaving the concert. A city siren is located on a pole on Waveland Avenue right outside Wrigley Field. Many people crowded into nearby bars for safety.
While Wrigley Field was reported to be in the path of a tornado Monday night, no tornado or funnel cloud was seen near the stadium.
Three nights of storms
Monday night made the third night of storms for the Chicago area and, by some measure, the worst. But the severe weather that hit hard Sunday night was hardly minor.
The NWS confirmed three tornadoes also touched down in the Chicago area Sunday night—two on the city's South Side and one in Elburn. They all had an EF rating of 0.
Quieting down at last
A cool front will blow through the area on Tuesday, quieting the weather pattern for the rest of the week and into the weekend.
At last, we will enjoy cooler temperatures and sunny skies. The threat of tornadoes is similar to the one that led to an outbreak of twisters in February.