Wheeling industrial park hard hit by storms; homes still without power

A Wheeling industrial park appears to have been among the places hardest hit by severe storms that swept through the area Tuesday night, downing trees and cutting off power to thousands of suburban homes.

Roofs were pulled off the industrial buildings, vehicle windows were shattered and trees were snapped in two near Glenn Avenue's intersections with Shepard and Chaddick Drive in the village.

Eric Lenning, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service's Chicago-area forecast office, said the storm did not produce a "tornado event," but strong winds can sometimes strip corrugated metal roofs off buildings as easily as paper.

Eileen Olson of Parkwood Enterprises, Ltd., which manages a seven-tenant building that lost its roof, said she didn't believe the roof was made of just metal, but that it had quite obviously been sheared off by the wind.

She said calculations of monetary damage and the length of repairs could not be done until ComEd grants permission to re-enter the property. Tenants and property owners were barred Tuesday morning due to safety concerns.

Lenning said radar data shows particularly strong winds ahead of the thunderstorms in Wheeling and northern Cook County that could have enhanced the effect of the storms.

Wheeling Fire Chief Keith MacIsaac said there was certainly an element of luck involved with the fact that no one was injured, given the way debris and downed power lines fell and that some buildings were occupied when winds tore off their roofs.

Wheeling Street/Forestry Foreman Jerry Edwards said two trees had fallen onto vehicles while another landed against the corner of a house. Village workers were likely to be busy through Friday cleaning up tree damage, he added.

MacIsaac said some building repair work already was under way Wednesday. Damage, he said, is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

About 25,000 homeowners lost electricity during the storm, but only 240 remained without power by late Wednesday afternoon, ComEd officials said. About 200 of them being in north and northwest suburbs, officials said.

Strong winds or a lightning strike riddled an Arlington Heights bowling alley roof with holes. Water poured into Beverly Lanes Bowling Alley after multiple sections of the roof were damaged, fire officials said.

Many homeowners throughout the suburbs spent time this morning picking up lawn furniture, basketball hoops, flower pots and other outdoor items that were thrown around as a result of the storm.

Additional less severe storms are expected today.