High winds lead to power outages
More than 1,500 Chicago-area residents were affected by wind-related power outages Tuesday, ComEd spokeswoman Lydia Hall said.
ComEd restored power to 100,000 customers across northern Illinois, with 4,000 still affected late Tuesday. The Chicago area, however, experienced the most complications, Hall said.
"High winds right now are making some of the tree branches break, hitting the power lines calling the outages," she said. "The highest impacted area is the Chicago area as well as the south region."
The National Weather Service warned Tuesday of hazardous winds reaching as high as 55 to 60 mph. Anyone experiencing ComEd outages should expect full service by Wednesday morning, Hall said.
"The repairs have been going pretty quickly. We expect to get customers restored as soon as possible," she said.
In Schaumburg, the wind toppled a light pole in the Jewel-Osco parking lot at Wise and Roselle roads. A Chevy SUV and a Honda Fit sustained heavy damage, but no injuries were reported.
In Arlington Heights, Central Road was closed in both directions between New Wilke Road and Dwyer Avenue in Arlington Heights because of low-hanging wires.
The lines were partially down when high winds led one ComEd utility pole to crack and another to bend, according to fire department Lt. Rick Manthy. The village first reported the downed lines after 1 p.m. Tuesday. Crews were expected to be out until 8 p.m. reinstalling the power lines, according to the village's Twitter account.