Chicago weather: Severe storms cause damage across SW suburbs, NW Indiana
Snow showers expected overnight into early Thursday
CHICAGO (WLS) -- There was a Tornado Watch for the southwest suburbs and northwest Indiana as severe storms passed through Wednesday afternoon and evening.
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An AccuWeather Alert will still be in effect overnight after the strong line of severe storms prompted tornado warnings and left damage across the area.
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Tornado Warnings were in effect for Cook, DuPage, Will and Kankakee counties in Illinois, and Lake and Newton counties in Indiana, but have since expired. Severe Thunderstorm Warnings across the area have also expired.
Much of the Chicago area was under a Level 2 risk of severe weather from about 3 to 8 p.m. The southwest suburbs were under a Level 3 risk and far north suburbs into Wisconsin were under a Level 1 risk.
There were scattered severe thunderstorms across the area, with the threat for high winds and large hail, especially south of Interstate 88.
As of 9 p.m., at least 2,457 ComEd customers were without power in northern Illinois, ComEd said. The most affected areas were Steger and Elgin.
As of 7:30 p.m., at least 14,702 NIPSCO customers were without power in northwest Indiana, NIPSCO said. The most affected area was Gary.
Chicago's airports saw delays and cancellations amid the severe weather. As of 6:22 p.m., there were 122 cancellations and delays averaging 75 minutes at O'Hare, and there were 43 cancellations and delays averaging 21 minutes at Midway, according to the Department of Aviation.
Storm damage in southwest suburbs
Long strands of mangled metal laid tangled across railroad tracks Wednesday night, torn from a neighboring warehouse by a quick burst of fast moving storms through Steger.
"I just saw the roof like standing up and going up in the air," resident Mike Williams said.
As resident Rylee Randolph hunkered in the closet, a tree in her front yard crashed to the ground. It all but shook the frame of the house around her.
"I saw the wind twisting on this main street of Chicago Road, debris flying," Randolph said. "It was really bad. It was scary. I didn't know what was going on. If my windows were going to get busted or what. It was very scary."
The same line of storms ripped through a New Lenox Target parking lot, rocking the cart corral, tearing down fences, and knocking large portions of trees to the pavement.
It came on with such ferocity that a UPS tractor trailer didn't have time to pull off the road near New Lenox. Without a heavy load to weigh against the unmitigated force of the storm line, the wind sheer tipped the entire tractor trailer on its side, somehow sparing the driver and passenger of any injuries.
People who hid from the path described seeing what they swear was a funnel cloud.
"It was just going in a circular motion down the street, it was just leaves, whatever was around it, straight down," one resident said.
Now exposed to the elements by a roof that was shorn off in a matter of seconds, renovation crews will have to start nearly from scratch.
Storm damage in northwest Indiana
Crews in Highland, Indiana cut down part of a massive tree that uprooted and fell on to a home Wednesday night on Forrest Drive off 41st Street.
ABC7 spoke to the woman who lives in the home, Sheila Courtright, and she said she and her son were inside at the time when this tree came down, taking out a portion of her bedroom ceiling. She said water came into the home.
"I hear this horrible noise and so I ran downstairs," Courtright said.
Courtright and her son were hunkering down as strong winds whipped around their Highland, Indiana home.
Sarah Lewis race to her mother and childhood home to find the tree that had been in the front yard for decades was toppled over.
"There was just tree all over the window and that's all you could see was just trees everywhere," Lewis said. "I couldn't believe when I pulled up that the whole tree was uprooted that I grew up with, and everything was on my childhood home, and it's very devastating."
Northwest Indiana one of the hardest hit areas by storm damage Wednesday.
"It appears something did come down this main avenue here, by the looks of the way that the poles have uprooted out of the ground and the trees just taken down," Lake County Councilman Ron Brewer said.
Lake County officials said a stretch near 21st and Chase in Gary was in the dark Wednesday night.
"A lot of roofs are blown off, a lot of garages have caved in and the utility poles are just snatched out of the ground, just laying on the side of the houses," Brewer said.
The concern now is the anticipated drop in temperatures as crews work to restore power to neighbors.
"It's heartbreaking to see this, knowing that the temperatures are going to the drop and there's a tremendous amount of power that's out in the area, so definitely have a concern that's out without power and heat at this time," Brewer said.
ABC7 has yet to hear of any reports of injuries in Highland, Indiana. Gary officials said so far no one was hurt.
McCullough Academy in Gary will be closed Thursday and Friday after storms caused significant damage to the building, school officials said.
Lake County leaders said that they are working with the Red Cross to provide shelter to those who need it, but it's unclear how many families have been displaced.
AccuWeather Alert continues overnight
A Wind Advisory will go into effect for most of the area at 10 p.m. through 7 a.m. Thursday.
Once the storms move out, snow showers will push in from the north, especially north of Interstate 80.
Most of the snow will fall before the Thursday morning commute.
But, a slushy dusting to an inch or 2 of accumulation will be possible with some isolated spots seeing as much as 3 inches of snow.
Severe storms caused damage across the Chicago area late Friday night into Saturday morning.
