Storms cause major delays on I-190, flooding in suburbs
The clean up has begun after heavy rain and high winds from major storms overnight caused power outages, flooding and major delays on I-190, officials said.
Flood warnings remain in effect for the entire area after torrential downpours overnight caused flash flooding and standing water on major roadways.
The National Weather Service said the I-190 spur was flooded between River and Manheim roads, causing major delays for people trying to get to O'Hare International Airport.
Many people got out of their cars and tried walking to the airport on the shoulder of I-190, multiple news agencies reported.
IDOT is reporting that all lanes on I-190 have been reopened.
They added some areas currently dealing with standing water and flooding issues include Addison, Arlington Heights, Barrington, Bolingbrook, Buffalo Grove and Carol Stream.
ComEd spokeswoman Krissy Posey said about 214,000 customers remain without power in Illinois as of 6 a.m. She said 108,000 of those customers were in the southern region, 16,800 in Chicago and Maywood. 2,400 in northern region and about 5,200 in the west region.
She said there is no timetable when power will be restored throughout the state, but said more than 1,000 crews are out and power has been restored to 165,000 customers already.
Storms rolled in with driving wind, rain and lightning Monday evening, with damage from the earliest line of storms mostly limited to lightning strikes and downed power lines, officials said.
The first line of storms drove through around 6 p.m., disrupting air and train travel.
Airlines reported more than two-hour delays with 450 flights canceled at O'Hare International Airport and the majority of Southwest flights at Midway Airport canceled.
Tornado sirens sounded in Aurora and Gages Lakes after spotters thought they saw funnel clouds.
Frequent cloud-to-ground lightning was reported by trained spotters in Naperville. In Villa Park, 60 mph winds that bent large trees were reported.
Lightning struck a two-story home and put a hole through the roof and an interior closet in Huntley. A strike in Vernon Hills caused damage to a two-story house on the 100 block Midway Lane.
A home on the 3600 block of Schillinger Court caught fire due to a lightning strike in Naperville, causing $75,000 worth of damage, officials said. The building was deemed uninhabitable, but no injuries were reported.
Officials added two other homes in Naperville were damaged by trees that were toppled by high winds.
Crews in Arlington Heights were doing some clean up on Tuesday, but Public Works Director Scott Shirley called Monday's storm a "minor event" for the village.
"We pretty much dodged a bullet," Shirley said. "We did have three inches of rain in four hours, which is pretty intense." Shirley said there was one report of a sewer backups, one tree hit by lightening and a few flooded streets, but that Arlington Heights didn't see as much damage from the storms as other suburbs.
"We have a little clean up to do, but nothing too major," he said.
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