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Tens of thousands without power

Downed trees and power lines from strong storms that swept through the area Monday evening caused widespread power outages and extensive delays for commuters throughout the evening.

A line of quick-moving storms moved through at around 5:30 p.m. and brought winds as high as 70 mph in some areas.

“We've had almost 300,000 customers impacted by the storm total,” said Liz Keating, spokeswoman for ComEd. “The wind was really the biggest culprit.”

As of 10 p.m., about 144,000 people remained without power, she said.

The bulk of the outages and damage seemed concentrated in areas in the South and West suburbs, including DuPage County.

In Glendale Heights, police reported minor damage from downed wires and trees, and residents were without power through part of the city.

Naperville also experienced downed power lines, but nothing significant, fire officials said.

Downed power lines closed Route 59 near West Chicago for a time, police said.

Metra trains ran behind schedule throughout the evening.

As a precautionary measure, Metra officials halted all trains at about 5:30 p.m.

“It went right in to rush hour so it affected quite a few trains,” said Michael Gillis, spokesman for Metra. “There's delays on every line.”

All lines — except for the Union Pacific North line — were moving again by 6:45 p.m.

Thousands of riders were expected to experience extensive delays throughout the evening, Gillis said.

Gusts of 67 miles per hour were reported at Chicago's Midway International Airport, causing flight delays.

Ÿ Daily Herald news services contributed to this report.

Storms damaged trees along Crestwood Court in Naperville on Monday evening. COURTESY OF Maggie Newlin
  Workers deal with a downed tree Monday night in Batavia. Susan Sarkauskas/ssarkauskas@dailyherald.com
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