Around 463,000 ComEd customers were without power Monday night after fast-moving severe thunderstorms tore through Chicago and its suburbs earlier in the day.
Around half of those without power were located north of the city, 108,000 in the west suburbs, 42,000 in the south suburbs and 73,000 within city limits.
ComEd officials say it was the largest weather-related outage in 13 years, with a total of 868,000 customers impacted.
Power outages were also reported at Six Flags Great America, where cars waited in a long line with nowhere to go. Sirens went off in Downers Grove and Waukegan.
In Chicago, high winds tipped large trees, one toppling onto an apartment building at Rockwell and Howard. High winds even sent flowers from Home Depot rolling into North Avenue, causing traffic delays.
Several trees were also uprooted in Rogers Park and Evanston, causing property damage.
"I didn't run or anything, I just stood there and looked," said Mae Walstead, whose car was damaged by a falling tree. "I would have been in the car a couple of minutes sooner I was coming back down but I looked out the window to check the weather and that's when I heard the loud noise."
A senior citizens complex in Downer's Grove imposed a voluntary evacuation after the power went out, but several of the residents refused to leave the dark and hot building.
But Josephine Lavaccari didn't hesitate to bolt.
"I'm not taking the chance. It was getting pretty stuffy in my apartment," she said.
In Palos Heights, seven were hurt when a large festival tent collapsed during the storm near Moraine Valley Community College. A Cook County Sheriff’s Office deputy and two workers from the Sheriff's Work Alternative Program suffered minor injuries.
The workers were cleaning up from the weekend's Family Fest when bad weather hit at 8:30 a.m.
Local
NBC 5 meteorologist Brant Miller says the severe weather has moved out of the area for now, replaced by temperatures in the mid-80s on Tuesday, and comfortable weather Wednesday and Thursday, with the next chance for rain coming on Friday.
Stay tuned to NBC5 and NBCChicago.com for your updated forecast.
Traffic | Airports | Metra | CTA | Chicago OEMC
