'And It Wasn't Christmas': After Storm, Grayslake Family Finds Tree In Their Home
GRAYSLAKE, Ill. (CBS) -- Damage from Tuesday's storms covered big areas outside of Chicago.
CBS 2's Steven Graves reported Wednesday from Grayslake, where residents were cleaning up after a wild night.
"Broke the window completely open," said Jess Guenther.
Guenther had found a surprise in the kitchen. Glass shattered near the window in their Grayslake home.
"We all just stood there like, what do we do now?" Guenther said.
She, along with her husband and son, started cleaning up.
"A tree inside your house - and it wasn't Christmas," she said.
Later, they noticed their deck had damage, too.
"It was crazy winds and it just pushed the tree," Guenther said, adding that she, her sons upstairs watched the limb fall, headed straight towards them.
"They were pretty freaked out," she said.
Even more so because it was not even a tree from the family's yard.
"So this is a tree that came from that trunk," Guenther said.
Neighbor Neva Wright was gone when the storm blew through. But she was shocked to see the tree fall.
"I definitely feel bad that it was our tree that hit," Wright said. "That does not make me feel good."
She's just over a year into owning the home.
"We didn't think it was that tree, because we had the trees surveyed to make sure they were all okay," Wright said.
There was tree damage throughout the Eastlake Farm neighborhood. Winds reaching about 55 miles per hour in parts of Lake County.
The Lake County Sheriff's office said damage was widespread. But for Guenther, an insurance claim is filed and clean up has already started.
"Not as bad as I expected it to be for a tree as big as it is," Guenther said, who is now hoping for a quieter night, even as more storms are headed in.
The sheriff's office was closed Wednesday because of power problems.
