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.
Suburban Oak Lawn was one of the areas that suffered the most storm damage. Near 88th Street and Ridgeland Avenue, a massive light pole came crashing onto the street, blocking all lanes of traffic for several hours. The whipping winds also brought down power lines onto the roof of Grassano's restaurant on 87th Street, sparking a small fire.
The fire was put out before it could spread to the inside of the restaurant, officials said. ComEd crews were forced to turn off the power before firefighters could enter the building. Firefighters said no one was inside the restaurant at the time.
Crews were out early Tuesday morning working on restoration, with no time estimate as to when the work would be completed. Officials reminded residents in areas hit by the storms to remain alert and steer clear of any power lines if they come across them.
