A Chicago Public School in the city's Pilsen neighborhood was left damaged during overnight storms Tuesday.
A large portion of the roof of a walkway at the school was seen dangling off the Benito Juarez Community Academy building Tuesday morning. Crews were at the scene trying to repair the damage.
"Last night's storm caused damage to the elevated walkway connecting the two buildings at Juarez High School," CPS said in a statement. "The walkway is being assessed, and the school has temporarily relocated affected classrooms to ensure instruction is not interrupted."
Officials said no injuries were reported and the extent of the damage was being assessed.
"The whole roof was like peeled away, almost like a banana peel and I was shocked and surprised and the kids were going to school while that was happening," said parent John Kugler.
The shcool allowed students to retrieve their belongings from the walkway Tuesday, but on Wednesday, it will be closed.
"Just imagine if there's some big storm or a disaster," Kugler said. "This school can't even handle light wind from a night storm, so how is this going to protect our children if there's a big disaster or a citizen who come here for protection?"
Local
Thousands were without power Tuesday morning after severe storms swept the Chicago area overnight.
As of 5:45 a.m., nearly 6,000 residents in the Chicago area had reported outages due to the overnight thunderstorms and high winds, with Chicago’s western suburbs hit the hardest.
Officials reminded residents in areas hit by the storms to remain alert and steer clear of any power lines if they come across them.
