Thousands without power Tuesday after tornadoes, severe storms in Chicago area

CHICAGO (CBS) — Hundreds of thousands of ComEd customers remain without power after Monday's tornadoes and severe storms, and for some, power likely won't be back for days.

As of 5 p.m., ComEd reported over 134,000 customers remain without power across the area. 

ComEd officials reported during a news conference on Tuesday that 430,000 customers initially experienced outages, and over 206,000 customers have had their power restored. 

ComEd said about 80% of customers can expect their power to be restored by Wednesday afternoon, and crews are working "around the clock." The remaining outages, ComEd estimates 99% of customers, could be restored by Friday. 

Over 3,000 utility workers will prioritize police and fire stations, nursing homes, and hospitals. ComEd has set up base camps with additional resources in the hardest-hit areas, including Freeport, University Park, Joliet, and Streator base camps. 

The damage is so severe in some parts of Northern Illinois that they had to import more than 300 utility workers all the way from Canada to help get the job done. Gov. JB Pritzker helped ComEd speed along the process of bringing in the additional workers.

No power, no air conditioning for many

Rory Williams and most of his Englewood neighborhood lost power around 9 p.m. Monday.

"Heavy rain, and then all of a sudden, the lights went out," Williams said. "Flickered back on, and then have been out since."

Fortunately, Williams had a small generator to power his refrigerator and freezer. 

"Two thousand-watt generator—it's sufficient for those two items, but I wouldn't try to run them for anything else," he said.

"Anything else" includes Williams' air conditioning, which is sorely missed in the sweltering temperatures.

Lightning even struck a power line near a building Williams owns just a few blocks away.

"It was bad," he said. "Lighting stuck the main power lines and there was a fire."

He says his six tenants in the building have been without power since Sunday night's storms.

Shantell Johnson of Englewood also lost power.

"Your stove is not working. You can't even put anything in the microwave," she said. "Yeah, we're paralyzed right now until the power comes back on."

Meanwhile, ComEd crews responded to I-55 near Channahon, where downed power lines are causing an unsafe situation for drivers. Two transmission towers and high-voltage wires are down across the highway. 

Early Tuesday morning, ComEd crews were also seen working at Cumberland and Maple Avenues in Norridge after strong winds pushed power lines, impacting area residents. 

"Unprecedented" tornadoes

The National Weather Service reported as many as 10 tornadoes on the ground at once during the evening Monday. A day later, the NWS said it was investigating 29 potential tornado tracks between the storms Sunday and Monday night.

One of the tornadoes, an EF-1, hit the Near West Side of Chicago and far western portions of the Loop.

ComEd said they haven't dealt with such damage since August 2020, when a tornado also touched down in the city. This time, ComEd said the tornado activity in particular was "unprecedented."

"The amount of tornadoes that occurred at the same time in a concentrated area—having 10 tornadoes along the same line of squall, with the 70 mile an hour winds?" said ComEd chief executive officer Gil C. Quiniones. "That was unprecedented."

ComEd said the fact that the trees are so heavy in midsummer made the damage worse.

"We're right in the middle of the summer. The trees have the heaviest vegetation on them. It's been more from the tornado—more than 75 mile per hour straight winds that have taken down trees and branches, and, you know," cause an impact on our on our overhead infrastructure," said ComEd Chief Operating Officer Dave Perez.

ComEd says some costumers may not get their power back on until Friday evening. One very, very important reminder, ComEd says, is that anyone who sees a downed wire must stay away from it—and assume that it is energized. 

Customers can report outages or downed power lines by calling 1-800-EDISON-1 (1-800-334-7661) or going online.      

Chicago area storm damage

Tree damage was also widespread throughout the Chicago area and beyond. Trees with a trunk diameter of 2 to 3 feet were snapped or uprooted by the storm.

The Chicago Fire Department reported numerous trees and power lines down around the city, 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.