Monday, strong storms with winds of 85 miles per hour, conditions like a tornado, and hail tore through the Chicago area. They caused flash flooding, downed trees and power lines, and damage to homes as they moved from Elgin to Lake Michigan.
According to ComEd’s outage map, as of early Monday morning, more than 44,000 customers were still without power.
When tornado warnings in Cook and DuPage made the weather dangerous, travelers at O’Hare were told to stay put and a ground stop was put in place for almost an hour.
Photos and videos from all over the Chicago area show that homes, neighborhoods, and yards were damaged by the bad weather. Some people couldn’t go back to their homes because of the dangerous debris left behind.
In Bellwood, a suburb of Chicago in the western part of the city, the storm scared the people who lived in a three-story apartment building at 24th Avenue and Washington. Residents say that they first heard hail and strong winds, and then, a few seconds later, they saw that part of the roof had come off. As the fire department arrived to help, people rushed to get out of the building.
Andre Harvey, the mayor of Bellwood, said that at least 18 families had to move and that two people were taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
Today, a structural engineer is going to look at the building to see if and when people can go back in.
Down the street, more damage was done, and some people found that their cars had been hit by the storm.
One person whose car was damaged said, “I’m glad no one was sitting in it.” That person was Naeesha Ellis.
Now that the severe storm cell has moved on, there is a lot of heat and dangerous humidity.
A warning about too much heat is in effect for the whole Chicago area until 8 p.m. on Wednesday. Tuesday’s high temperature is expected to be 98 degrees, which is just one degree below the record set in 1987. However, the heat index will make it feel even hotter, reaching between 105 and 110 in most places.
We won’t get a break from the heat until Thursday, when temperatures will drop into the 80s.
