Massive thunderstorms with high winds, multiple lightning strikes and a possible tornado blew through the south and southwest suburbs Monday morning, bringing damages to areas still recovering from major storms two weeks ago.
Post-storm images on social media showed a swath of damage, including in Homewood where a verified F1 tornado hit just two weeks ago, and where massive piles of tree debris still line many roadside parkways.
Photos posted by residents showed massive damage to the Richton Park Metra station on Sauk Trail, downed power lines on Halsted Street near Prairie State College in Chicago Heights and downed trees throughout Chicago Heights, Flossmoor, Lansing, Crete and Mokena.
Flossmoor Mayor Michelle Nelson posted on Instagram that the village had been hit by a confirmed tornado, and said a state of emergency may be declared to be sure help can get to residents as quickly as possible.
“I’m a little emotional, we’ve all had it, we’ve had it with these storms. But our spritis are strong, we will recover,” she said in her video.
Nelson said an emergency operations center was set up at the Village Hall.
The Homewood Public Library, which closed for days after the previous storm because of a lack of power, was shuttered once again Tuesday morning after it lost electricity again in the latest storm. Similarly the Glenwood-Lynwood Public Library and Orland Park Public Library lost power and closed, canceling all of its scheduled programming Tuesday and advising patrons to stay tuned for further updates.
Homewood Public Works and Homewood police were surveying the community Monday afternoon assessing structural and tree damage. Areas south of 183rd Street appear to have sustained substantial damage, the village reported.
The storm affected many area businesses. Berkot’s Super Foods posted that it had lost power and was temporarily closing its grocery stores in Midlothian, Braidwood, Peotone, Momence, Manteno, Wilmington, Homewood, Beecher and Crete.
In Oak Forest, Chicago Gaelic Park shut down for the day after it lost power during Tuesday’s storm, posting on social media it hoped to return to business as usual as soon as possible.
Dunning’s Gourmet and Deli in Flossmoor said its window was blown out and power lost, so was offering for free the pre-made salads it had for lunchtime.
Orland Park reported its public works crews were working on downed power lines, street lights, flooded roadways and downed trees. At 1 p.m. the village reported trees blocking a roadway in eight locations.
Orland Park Mayor Jim Dodge said ComEd crews are actively working to restore power to affected neighborhoods, and warned drivers to treat all nonfunctioning traffic signals as four-way stops.
The Orland Park police station was open as a primary cooling center offering air conditioning, device charging stations and dedicated power outlets for medical equipment.
The village of Flossmoor said there was an unconfirmed tornado in town about 11 a.m., and reported several trees down and streets block. The Road viaduct was flooded, along with many major and neighborhood roads.
Homewood public works crews closed the 183rd and Dixie Highway viaducts due to standing waters, and said immediately after the storm Halsted Street at Ridge Road was completely blocked, as well as the intersection of Willow Road and Dixie Highway.
“Please use caution if you must be on the road, allow extra time, and be alert for downed trees, debris, standing water, and other storm-related hazards,” the village warned.
The Forest Preserve District of Will County said damage had forced closure of several forest preserves and trails, including Goodenow Grove Nature Preserve in Crete Township, Messenger Woods Preserve in Homer Glen and Old Plank Road Trails closed from Washington Street to Gougar Road.
Departures at O’Hare International Airport were been due to the storms, the Federal Aviation Administration announced.
By midafternoon, ComEd reported 4,095 active power outages on its website, affecting a total of 267,758 customers.
The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning across the Chicago region, urging residents to take cover as thunderstorms approached.