DuPage cleaning up in storm's wake
DuPage County residents are cleaning up in the wake of a storm that roared through the area Monday morning, knocking out power to more than 36,500 customers, ripping the roof off an apartment building near Willowbrook and downing countless trees.
Roughly 150 people were displaced when high winds tore the roof off a 32-unit building at Hinsdale Lake Terrace Apartments, 16W536 Honeysuckle Rose Lane near Willowbrook, said David Gervino, spokesman for the DuPage Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.
He said the American Red Cross was offering overnight shelter at Benedictine University in Lisle for about 50 people from the complex who needed assistance. He said there were no reports of injuries.
“We'll be providing meals and an air-conditioned place to stay,” Veronica Vasquez, a spokeswoman for the Chicago American Red Cross, said.
The largest concentration of power outages was in Lombard, where 6,515 ComEd customers were in the dark at one point during the day, Gervino said.
ComEd officials said a record number of customers across the region lost power during the storm and it likely will take days to restore electricity to all affected residents.
Municipalities across the area, meanwhile, were assessing damage.
“There's been pocketed damage but by and large we've not had a mass run of trees,” Lombard Public Works Director Carl Goldsmith said.
Goldsmith said the village received roughly 140 calls about downed power lines and fallen trees, though damage was not severe.
In Wheaton, officials said the storms left behind downed tree limbs that forced several road closures. As of Monday afternoon, about 5,000 people remained without power, according to City Manager Don Rose.
Several surrounding communities, including Glen Ellyn, Naperville and Lisle, also were affected by high winds that left downed limbs and uprooted trees in their wake.
“It was amazing how the wind just suddenly stirred up,” Naperville resident Stephanie Penick said of the storm that began just before 8 a.m.
Penick said a locust tree in her backyard, two ash trees along the front parkway and a nearby sugar maple came down in the gusts, though no one was hurt and property damage was minimal.
Penick said city crews cited recent dry weather as a reason for the number of uprooted trees. “I don't even know how this thing whipped up so quickly,” she said.
Itasca Public Works Director Ross Hitchcock reported falling branches, including one that took out a power line and caused an outage of three square blocks. The outage left village hall and the police department temporarily operating on generators, and also required police to man some intersections with inoperable signals, said Deputy Police Chief Bob O'Connor.
Hitchcock added that strong winds blew a metal umbrella onto railroad tracks where it was hit by a train, causing no injuries or major damage.
In Glen Ellyn, streets across the village were closed while crews collected fallen tree limbs, including some tangled in power lines, police said. “It's been a busy day,” Deputy Police Chief Bill Holmer said.
Cmdr. Dan Hoffman of the Carol Stream Police Department reported some power outages near the intersection of Morton Road and North Avenue. Public Works Director Phil Modaff said power also was out in a light industrial area near Tubeway and Westgate drives.
Modaff said about 15 large branches or trees were reported down around town, and two “chipper” crews were out picking up the debris.
Roselle Street Superintendent Robin Jones said his town escaped major damage, but there were several scattered tree limbs down.
About one-third of the 1,431 people who lost power in Roselle had been restored as of 11 a.m., officials said.
In Lisle, Public Works Director Jason Elias said there were areas without power and trees blocking roadways.
“We have had storm damage throughout the village and we're in the process of going around right now and evaluating,” he said.
Ÿ Daily Herald staff writers Christopher Placek, Marco Santana and Josh Stockinger contributed to this report.