Chicago weather: Severe storms cause flooding, outages and damage

Monday, July 24, 2017
Severe storms move through Chicago area
Severe storms moved through the Chicago area on July 23,2 017, bringing heavy rain, winds and hail.

ALGONQUIN, Ill. (WLS) -- Severe thunderstorms moved through the Chicago area Sunday evening causing heavy rain, hail and gusty winds.

The storms also created more problems for communities along the already-swollen Fox River, which again reached record levels on Sunday - 13.11 feet.

"We didn't need that. I think that really hurt the area again," said Adam Smith, who lives in Algonquin.

The river had just crested on Saturday and was starting to recede before the storms hit.

Diana Wood had just sold her property in Algonquin, but is still moving out her belongings. On Sunday, more water crept into the basement.

"It was lower yesterday," she said. "I could have walked ankle-deep, but now it's pretty much up to my knees."

More than 40,000 sandbags have been in use to keep the water at bay in Algonquin, but residents and business owners continue to wait for their lives to get back to normal.

STORM DAMAGE

The storms moved in at about 4 p.m. sparking Severe Thunderstorm Warnings until throughout the area and into northwest Indiana until about 7 p.m.

Romeoville, Bolingbrook, Aurora and Naperville were particularly hit with flooding and storm damage. The storm caused some airport delays and a brief groundstop at O'Hare International Airport.

As of 10 p.m., 22,800 customers were without power.

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