Hail, high winds damage trees, buildings

Three massive lines of thunderstorms swept through the area overnight and this morning, leaving a path of scattered building damage and downed trees and power lines.

About 10,000 ComEd customers are still without power, officials from ComEd said, with 1,700 in the northern suburbs.

Most local towns saw some degree of hail and wind damage, with areas of DuPage County being some of the worst hit.

At least three businesses in or near Bensenville are struggling to regain their footing after storms tore off large segments of their roofs.

Kyle Wisner, president of Victory Auto Wreckers at 710 E. Green St. in Bensenville, said he discovered a huge mess upon arriving at work at 5:45 a.m. Tuesday.

"Pretty much the whole roof blew off," he said. "We have several skylights but only one survived, there was glass all over. And now there is a tarp over the whole roof, which must be entirely replaced."

The shop was open for business Tuesday, even though workers still were cleaning up and Weisner was handling insurance claims.

"Nothing stops us," he said. "It's a little damp inside the building, but we have to be here anyway."

Robert's Precision Silk Screening and E. M. Glabus Machine, which share a nearby building at 420 County Line Road in Bensenville, were not so lucky. Owners on Tuesday said they went without gas and electricity for hours.

"We have a wall down, half the roof is collapsed and water has damaged a lot of my films and supplies," said Robert Shamoon, owner of the screening business. "We came in last night because all the sensors on our alarms started going off, and it looked like a war zone."

Next to their business, a Franklin Park pallet maker also suffered heavy damage. Auggie Mancilla, owner of Skyline Pallets at 480 Podlin Drive, said a 40-by-40-foot corner of roof was ripped off, along with the central heating unit affixed to the top.

"It's just a big, big mess," Mancilla said. "We had to hurry to take out all the computers, fax machines and office equipment. Everything is waterlogged. It had to be some pretty strong winds to blow all this heavy equipment."

Indeed, some area communities reported winds up to 70 mph Monday night during a thunderstorm that Meteorologist Eric Lenning from the National Weather Service said was equivalent to an extremely small tornado.

By early Tuesday, 10,000 power outages remained across the suburbs, but the number shrank to just 3,000 systemwide in the afternoon with only a few hundred in the north suburbs. Officials said many of those 3,000 were new outages due to wind gusts throughout the day.

Four Bensenville homes also lost their roofs in the storm, Fire Batallion Chief Larry Karp said, and some trees were blown down.

In addition to gusts, hailstones the size of baseballs were recorded in Des Plaines, while 1-inch hail was recorded in Elgin, Hoffman Estates, Hanover Park and Schaumburg.

Northern Cook County was hit hardest by the first storm, while the second storm seemed to focus primarily on the northern Fox Valley.

Island Lake saw hail large hail, while Marengo reported wind gusts up to 70-mph, which caused a semi-truck hauling an empty trailer to blow over. Downed trees were reported in numerous areas throughout Lake, Cook, McHenry and DuPage counties, Lenning said.

Damaging hail One-inch hail hit many suburbs during storms late Monday and today, while some in the Des Plaines area reported baseball-sized hailstones. Here's what to do if your property is damaged.If your car is damagedbull; Damage will be covered as long as the vehicle has comprehensive coverage. bull; More than 75 percent of drivers carry comprehensive coverage.bull; Filing a claim would not increase future premiums. bull; Call your insurance agent to report damage.bull; You'll pay the deductible. If your home is damagedbull; Homeowners insurance covers damage from hail storms.bull; Contact insurance agency to report claim. Inspector will evaluate damage to determine if all or portions of the siding or roof need to be repaired.bull; Could see an increase if future premiums, depending on other claims you have made. bull; Replacement of siding or roof may be prorated depending on the policy and materials involved.bull; Homeowner pays a deductible.bull; Be cautious of door-to-door contractors soliciting work. Do your homework and ask questions.Sources: Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, insurance companiesFalse27001793The roof and a large part of a brick wall were destroyed at E. M. Glabus Co. on County Line Rd. in Bensenville. The company makes airplane parts. Workers were boarding up the wall Tuesday afternoonScott Sanders | Staff PhotographerFalse <div class="infoBox"><h1>More Coverage</h1><div class="infoBoxContent"><div class="infoArea"><h2>Related links</h2><ul class="moreWeb"><li><a href="http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?zoneid=ILZ014" class="mediaItem">Latest Forecast</a></li><li><a href="http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/" class="mediaItem">National Weather Service outlook</a></li><li><a href="http://radar.weather.gov/radar.php?rid=lot&product=N0R&overlay=11101111&loop=no" class="mediaItem">National Weather Service radar</a></li><li><a href="http://www.flychicago.com/fidsohare" class="mediaItem">O'Hare flight information</a></li><li><a href="http://www.flychicago.com/fidsmidway" class="mediaItem">Midway flight information</a></li><li><a href="http://metrarail.com/content/metra/en/home/service_updates/service_updates_alerts.html" class="mediaItem">Metra service advisories</a></li><li><a href="http://wrc.gettingaroundillinois.com/winterroadconditions" class="mediaItem">Road conditions</a></li><li><a href="http://www.gcmtravel.com/gcm/maps_chicago.jsp" class="mediaItem">Traffic conditions</a></li><li><a href="http://63.135.96.26/water_level/main.cfm" class="mediaItem">Fox River and Chain o' Lakes water levels </span></a></li><li><a href="http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=lot" class="mediaItem">NWS Regional flooding map</span></a></li></ul></div></div></div>