Science & Nature
Multiple Tornadoes Spawned Thursday, Cleanup Continues in Chicago
A tree at Wilson Avenue and Marine Drive was completely uprooted during Wednesday's storms. (Patty Wetli / WTTW News)
Teams from the National Weather Service will be surveying damage from multiple reported tornadoes that touched down Thursday in northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana, while recovery efforts continue from the derecho that walloped Chicago on Wednesday.
As of Friday morning, more than 60,000 customers in Chicago remained without power following Wednesday's storm, which packed wind gusts of nearly 80 miles per hour.
Roughly one-third of those customers were clustered in four wards on the city's Southwest Side: the 13th, 17th, 18th and 21st.
ComEd said 400 additional support personnel were expected to arrive Friday to assist the 3,000 employees already working on restoration efforts.
Even as forestry crews worked to clear thousands of trees and branches downed on Wednesday — with more than 5,000 tree emergencies reported — damaging straight-line winds moved through the southern metro area again Thursday.
Chicagoans should continue to report tree damage to 311 or their alderman's office.
Though portions of Cook and DuPage counties were under tornado warnings Thursday, the strongest line of twisters cut a swath well south of Chicago. The hardest hit areas include Streator, Ill., and Merrillville and Hebron, Ind., according to the National Weather Service.
Contact Patty Wetli: [email protected]
