Early-morning storm knocks out electricity, downs trees

A storm that rolled through the Tri-Cities area Tuesday morning left areas of Geneva and Batavia without power and several downed trees.

An approximate five-square mile area in the southeast section of Batavia had its power knocked out by the storm that came through around 6 a.m., Batavia Public Works Director Gary Holm said.

In Geneva, 488 customers on the east side were without power for nearly 90 minutes but were restored by 7:30 a.m., Electric Superintendent Mike Buffington said.

Other small pockets of outages were also reported throughout the area.

Don Bryant, director of the Kane County Office of Emergency Management, said 20,000 ComEd customers had no power following the storm.

St. Charles had several small outages that were quickly restored, Electric Services Manager Tom Bruhl said.

St. Charles residents can report any outages to the public works department at (866) 444-0016.

Dozens of locations, especially on the west side of Aurora, reported trees, wires and power poles down. There were no injuries, said Dan Ferrelli, the city’s director of public information.

The lone major road closure — due to downed wires — was on Indian Trail Road between Highland and Pennsylvania avenues. The city had 30 employees clearing several side streets obstructed by downed trees and wires.

The 911 center handled 215 calls in 40 minutes at the height of the storm, Ferrelli said.

Reports of downed trees blocking streets or sidewalks and damaged trees on city property can be reported to (630) 256-4636 or online at aurora-il.org.