'Just came in,' twice: Suburbs clean up after waves of storms

Organizers of the popular Libertyville Days festival knew heavy weather was predicted for Friday afternoon and sounded a tornado siren in advance of it.

Still, there was nothing they could do about strong winds that scattered tents during the event's second day in downtown Libertyville around Milwaukee Avenue.

"Tents down everywhere, everything is a mess," said Mayor Terry Weppler, who also is festival chairman. "I saw a Port-A-Potty blown over. It (the storm) just came in." No injuries were reported.

The severe thunderstorms that stretched from Milwaukee in the north to Bloomington in the south Friday afternoon downed trees, damaged homes and businesses, and at its peak knocked out power to more than a quarter-million customers in the Chicago area, according to ComEd.

National Weather Service meteorologist Charles Mott said winds ranged from 50 to 70 mph. Heavy rainfall was reported as part of the line of storms that moved through the Chicago area at about 50 mph. There were no reports of a tornado, officials said.

The high winds also blew out at least two windows at the 110-story Willis Tower in Chicago.

Then a second wave of storms blew through the area starting at about 9 p.m. and downed more trees and power lines, but no extensive damage was immediately reported.

The first set of storms not only disrupted Libertyville Days but also sent rescue personnel scrambling to hunt for a kayaker who initially was believed to be in trouble in the Antioch area.

Antioch Fire Protection District spokesman Chris Lienhardt said crews were dispatched to Grass Lake after the report of the kayaker possibly lost in the water. The kayaker was found safe about 4:40 p.m. after a brief search.

Parts of roofs were torn off two buildings in Antioch. Debris from the roof of Antioch Bowling Lanes, at 750 W. Route 173, was blown onto the road, causing Route 173 to be closed near Lotus Avenue on the village's west side.

Fire Chief John Nixon said the high winds took the roof of the bowling alley as well as the roof of the Chicago Ink and Research Co., at 97 Ida Ave.

Two occupants of a van escaped injury after a tree struck the vehicle, Lienhardt said.

Cathy Kraemer, who owns Cathy's Garden Gate in the village, was among those at the Libertyville Days festival when the wicked storms hit.

"I was sitting under the tent trying to hang on to it. It was going to fly," Kraemer said.

As of early Friday evening no injuries or major structural damage had been reported to the Lake County Emergency Management Agency, according to coordinator C. Kent McKenzie. McKenzie said a wind gust of 56 mph was recorded at the agency's Libertyville headquarters.

"I think maybe we did dodge a bullet, given how high we thought the winds would be," he said.

Driving rain and high winds wreaked havoc on the afternoon commute on area highways and caused a power outage at the Des Plaines oasis over the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway. Delays of up to 90 minutes were reported at O'Hare International Airport and Midway Airport. The storm also caused Metra delays.

Other damage reports throughout the suburbs include:

Cook Countybull; A traffic signal at Arlington Heights and Algonquin roads in Arlington Heights was knocked over. bull; Large trees were reportedly down in Elk Grove Village, Arlington Heights and Rolling Meadows. In Arlington Heights, police and public works officials responded to about 50 reports of limbs brought down in the storm. bull; A power outage at about 4 p.m. in downtown Arlington Heights affected traffic signals along Northwest Highway and also knocked out power at village hall. Power lines were also downed in Arlington Heights.bull; Hanover Park Public Works Director Howard Killian said the area of County Farm Road just north of Lawrence Avenue was closed because of a downed power line. bull; The power was out at a couple of traffic lights along Irving Park Road and the village immediately received about 15 calls about fallen trees and large hanging branches. bull; Killian also said power was out at the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District treatment plant, but that no flooding was reported.bull; Schaumburg police Sgt. John Nebl said scattered power outages knocked out traffic signals around the village during rush hour. There were also small tree branches down around Schaumburg, but few signs of structural damage.DuPage Countybull; Addison police responded to numerous calls of power out about 4 p.m. across the village. bull; Power lines and tree limbs were down across Aurora with no reports of injuries. $CLASS=breakhead$Kane Countybull; A power outage in South Elgin disabled traffic signals along Route 31 and knocked out power to area businesses.bull; Traffic around the area of Route 31 and Quarry Street had to be diverted for a tree blocking the street.bull; Daily Herald staff writers Kristina Hauptmann and Mick Zawislak, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.False490268A tree split in front of a home on South Street in Elgin after high winds accompanied by rain and lightning roared through the area Friday afternoon.Rick West | Staff PhotographerFalse <div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Video</h2><!-- Start of Brightcove Player --><div style="display:none"></div><!--By use of this code snippet, I agree to the Brightcove Publisher T and Cfound at http://corp.brightcove.com/legal/terms_publisher.cfm.--><script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript" src="http://admin.brightcove.com/js/BrightcoveExperiences.js"></script><object id="myExperience97262341001" class="BrightcoveExperience"><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="width" value="300" /><param name="height" value="255" /><param name="playerID" value="18011347001" /><param name="publisherID" value="1659832549"/><param name="isVid" value="true" /><param name="@videoPlayer" value="97262341001" /></object><!-- End of Brightcove Player --></ul></div></div></div><div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Photo Galleries</h2><ul class="gallery"><li><a href="/story/?id=388873">Images of Friday's severe weather </a></li></ul></div></div></div>