More than 15,000 people were without power as severe storms and tornadoes plowed through northern Illinois Wednesday night, leaving downed trees and power lines in their wake.
Your Chicago Area Severe Weather Photos: June 22
Multiple tornadoes touched down in several counties around Chicago, downing trees and power lines and causing damage to buildings and homes.
ComEd said more than 15,000 people were without power just after 10 p.m. but that number was expected to climb as storms continued into the overnight hours.
"Our goal is safety and getting our customers restored as quickly as possible," said Annette Martinez, a spokesperson for ComEd.
In Earlville, Illinois, there were reports of fallen trees and signs and in Seneca, Illinois, power lines were down and homes were said to have been damaged.
In Pontiac, a number of power outages were reported where a tornado had touched down Wednesday night. It was not immediately clear if there were any injuries, but damage was reported in a trailer park in the area.
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Just after 9 p.m., Coal City, which was forced to cancel an anniversary ceremony remembering the damaging tornadoes that struck a year earlier, was hit with heavy flooding as tornado sirens rang out.
Grundy County Emergency Management reported trees down in the county but said no structural damage was reported as of 11 p.m.
In Mount Prospect, Illinois, footage showed a gas station canopy collapsed in the area.
Numerous watches and warnings were issued across the Chicago area, prompting officials to delay the Copa America semifinal match at Soldier Field and forcing Navy Pier to close and cancel its fireworks display.
Flooding was reported on expressways in the area as well as in northwest suburbs like Arlington Heights and Palatine.
A lightning strike caused a house fire in Evanston, according to the Evanston Fire Department. The fire occurred in the 1500 block of Wesley Ave around 8:19 p.m., when lightning struck the two story single-family home. Fire companies from five departments responded to the fire, which was extinguished around 9:41 p.m., the fire department confirmed, and the homeowner was displaced.
