The storm may be over, but in the south suburbs, residents are still dealing with the aftereffects. A messy morning commute was made even more complicated when Metra's Electric District Line halted all morning service between University Park and Kensington.
"I just moved down the street in Michigan Park. What is this? It took me this long to get here. Went all the way to the Metra to get on the train. All trains are canceled. So now I have to drive all the way to UIC in this mess," said Kimberly Taylor, commuter.
It was nearly 1 p.m. when trains finally got back on track. A Metra spokesperson said the storm simply overtook their efforts overnight to prevent the lines from freezing.
Elsewhere, homeowners tried to dig out from it all. But shoveling ice was the least of it. In Monee downed trees were littered all over people's yards.
"All the trees start snapping in the night. And I've been out breaking them up and piling them up. I was fortunate that it didn't hit the house or any lines," said Bill Kanabe, Monee resident.
Then there are the power outages. More than 15,000 residents were without power at one point, most in the south suburbs.
ABC7 came across these downed lines, also in Monee, some so close to the houses themselves that their inhabitants had to temporarily evacuate.
"We've been rather busy all morning and have extra staffing because of the fact of the storm. And we've been running calls all morning long of one sort or another. A lot was due to the weather. So far no injuries. And we're hoping for a safe night," said Capt. Paul Douglas, Monee Fire Department.
A spokesperson for ComEd said that about 250 crews have been working throughout the day to try and restore power to customers. As of about 4 p.m., there were still some scattered areas in the dark.
